Combating Pollution
Anil Laul

Government agencies and individuals entrusted with the task of enforcing anti-pollution regulations end up collecting vast sums of money without containing the problem. This establishes yet another link in the vicious chain of corruption. The problem persists and continues getting aggravated every month. It is high time to do a bit of lateral thinking in order to work out a solution that deals with the root cause of the problem. Until the basic reason for pollution by vehicular traffic is established, all solutions can at best be fire-fighting measures, culminating in a constant battle between law makers and vehicle owners, who are left with no choice but to ignore the law for its mindless enforcement.

In order to appreciate the solution attempted here, it would be necessary to get an aerial view of Delhi between 9.00 am and 11.00 am and again between 5 pm and 7 pm . Massive traffic snarls could be seen between the mega-centres of Nehru Place, Bhikaji Cama Place, Rajendra Place and other such commercial centres. All traffic systems and energy flows are directed towards meeting these peak hour requirements for two hours each morning and two hours every evening for only five days a week. For nearly 16 hours on every working day and for two complete days every week, these systems lie dormant or grossly under- utilised. The first step, therefore, should be targeted at preventing these snarls.

The solution does not, however, lie in the never-ending exercise of widening roads or building a larger number of flyovers. The solution lies in addressing the root cause of this scenario. There needs to be a rev-ersal of the dam-age that has occu-rred ow-ing to the large sca-le special-ised land-use in our master plan.Mega-centres are bound to perpe-tuate only mega problems.

The sceptic may argue in favour of these centres, based on the fact that they cannot be abandoned, whatever be the consequences. However, careful analysis would reveal that there are several activities that are not warranted in such large scale commercial complexes, but are compelled to continue in these areas owing to the regulations. There are a large number of activities that could be re-categorised as "domestic- commercial" and must be permitted in residential areas. At present, in the urban context, we have either residential or commercial (and industrial) land use. There is no intermediate land use. One may state that we do have the concept of convenient shopping areas which are earmarked on the basis of the requirements of the community and seem sufficient. The truth, however, is that these cater largely to shopping and not the domestic-commercial segment.

A good example of a domestic commercial activity in residential areas is a housewife who operates a catering business from her residence. Should domestic commercial activity be disallowed, there would be an increase in the product cost due to transportation charges, extra expenditure in manpower as well as wastage of energy. Likewise, commuting from her residence to her place of work and hiring additional manpower instead of using the existing domestic help at home - all add to the eventual cost of the finished product as well as the pollution. In the final analysis, people should be given a choice where to locate services (instead of the government being the ultimate decision maker). Private entrepreneurs, whose work is linked to large commercial areas, can continue to locate themselves there.

Following concrete steps could be taken to curb pollution and move towards a cleaner environment :

n Residents ought to be permitted to use upto 25 per cent of their residence for commercial purposes, provided there is no effluent discharge or noise pollution caused by the installation of machinery and equipment. Permission for such activity should be granted by the residents’ association and not through the complex government machinery. The residents’ association would then inform the local authorities of their having accorded sanction and would collect a commercial tax, of which 50 per cent would be given to the local body. On receipt of intimation of closure of the commercial activity through the residents’ association, the commercial tax would cease to be applicable within one month, provided that there are no dues pending.

Thus, a lady who operates a beauty parlour can now run this activity from her residence, avoiding the need for transport to a commercial area for her helpers and herself. The same would apply to small consultancies and various other service industries that are today operating in commercial areas. Traffic coming into these areas would not mingle with the main arterial traffic, resulting in dilution of the traffic. Reducing congestion would be one major step in controlling air pollution, owing to the traffic idling at congestion points.

n Another solution to traffic congestion and air pollution is to dispense with rigid timings for shops in residential areas as also the ones in the main shopping centres. For instance, while provision stores need to open in the early hours of the day, a boutique owner expects clientele only in the afternoon, when housewives have finished all their morning chores.

A bureaucrat cannot determine the hours of operation of a shop owner. In all our traditional cities, ‘shop houses’ or the concept of residences located over shop is an established pattern in human settlements. This is also true of neighouring countries such as Thailand and Singapore. The effective working of this concept is clearly demonstrated in the inner city areas of smaller towns in India. However, the newly developed areas in these small towns are purely residential in emulation of the development in urban areas. It is, therefore, imperative that urban development serves as a responsible role model for the rest of developing India.

The peak traffic hours in the evening are between 5.00 p.m. and 7.00 p.m., when office-goers return home. The time for the closure of shops is also about the same . Both office-goers and housewives may find this as the best time to shop. The late closure of shops would dilute the rush at the peak period, thus avoiding traffic chaos. By allowing all shops to stay open until late in the night, people would be able to do some shopping during their post dinner walks. This would encourage the development of local shopping centres. The resulting increase in the number of people frequenting local shopping areas would demagnetise the main shopping areas.

n The dumping of stacks of unused material for months on roads causes severe bottlenecks for traffic. This is due to the faulty working of the government Public Works Department. The material component amounts to 75 per cent of the total project cost. On the purchase of material, 75 per cent of the project budget is shown as consumed, despite the fact that the material has not been installed at the site. The engineer concerned pockets his percentage of bribe from the bulk purchase of material and then loses interest in the project. The engineer who succeeds him has no interest in completing the project because of his small profit margins. He, in turn, ensures bulk purchase of material for some other project, to generate income, creating yet another traffic hazard. This vicious cycle 

perpetuates itself. There are numerous benefits in allowing a maximum of one month’s supply of material at the site. In order to place an order for the next month’s supply of material, the engineer will have to ensure utilisation of the material ordered previously. This will decrease traffic snarls, pollution, restrict malpractices in bulk purchase and encourage time-bound execution of work and the concurrent auditing.

n Land adjoining the railway tracks should be used as roads for fast moving traffic and become a speed corridor. A speed corridor already exists for the uninterrupted flow of the rail traffic. Unless it is dovetailed with a parallel road-network, a viable, convenient mass rapid transport system will not be attained. Bombay is an excellent example of a high-speed corridor where the road-network and railway traffic have been dovetailed. This development took place more by default than design because of the geography of the city. However, it is worth considering the merits of this example and applying similar design principles in other cities of India.

Currently, the land on either side of the railway tracks in Delhi is a ‘no-man’s land’, encroached upon by the supportive population. Since the Railway Department has proposed the commercial use of this land for revenue generation, it evidently doesn’t require this land for expansion of the railway tracks. Here again, Bombay serves as a good example of human settlement that is concomitant with developing a high-speed corridor. Land prices abutting the corridor are naturally low and this area can be used for low-income housing as is the practice in the chawls of Bombay. This would allow the poorer populace to walk to their residences after alighting from the mass rapid transport. Rise in the land price would be directly proportional to the distance from the high-speed corridor.

The width of the land on either side of the railway track is sufficient to provide for this rapid transit zone. In Delhi, which is radially planned, the existing incomplete ring of railway tracks can be completed with roads on either side of the tracks. Traffic can easily move from one side of the railway track to the other side through under-passes at points already in existence. This might obviate the necessity for an overhead track as being envisaged in Delhi. These underpass connections would enable commuters to access areas within the circle and outside its perimeter.

Bus services could then be limited to fixed routes operating within and outside the perimeter of the railway track. These routes should be scheduled at regular frequencies to enable quicker commuting. An efficient mass rapid transit system would reduce pollution by discouraging people to use costly personal transport over long distances and use the mass transport system, instead.

n The flyover has been extolled as the ‘fix-it’ for smooth traffic flow at large crossings. Delhi, like other cities across the globe, has witnessed a spate of flyover construction. These flyovers are built at a considerable cost. While flyovers do allow quick travel for cross traffic, vehicles making right angle turns at crossings still have to be regulated through red lights, resulting in the pile-up of cars. The concept of rotary grade separators, allows for the free movement of traffic in all directions. (Flyovers today are being called grade separators. A rotary grade separator allows for free movement of traffic in all directions without traffic lights and also provides for a separate rotary for the pedestrian). It works on the principles of a multi-level roundabout and facilitates smooth traffic movement through short-span structures that take less physical area than the average flyover. The real solution is traffic segregation at separate levels on the basis of the mode of traffic and not direction alone.

Since cars require the least head clearance, they are assigned the lowest level of 2 metres below the ground level. This level is taken as a benchmark to enable ground water disposal as most sewer lines run at around 2 metres below the ground level. Trucks, which require the greatest head clearance, move at the topmost level of 3.5 metres above the ground level, while the ground level is free for pedestrian movement. By decreasing the maximum clear height required in over-bridges and limiting them to short-span structures, enormous cost-saving could be attained.

In the final analysis, efforts have to be directed at checking the root causes of pollution and formulating long term solutions, instead of fire-fighting or imposing regulations that will continue to be broken. q

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