Pollution in Delhi to Diminish

The Master Plan 2021 has not only proposed restructuring of the capital but also promises to gift the capital the most desired thing. A thing which no money can buy, no bank balance can be worthy enough to afford. The only way it can be achieved only through thoughtful restrain on some of our habits and vigilant action plan. Quite clearly, the gift is nothing but free, unpolluted air to breathe and surroundings devoid of cacophonous attributes.

The Master Plan 2021 Delhi candidly admits that in spite of introducing the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Euro II norms, the intention of reducing air pollution hasn't been completely attained. Even today, air pollutants continue to be very active and the major cause for environmental concerns. Similarly, noise pollution is exceeding at an alarming rate thus making Delhi cross the permissible level of noise pollution.

The plan identifies that the noise pollutants which have become health hazards in the city have been proliferating to an extent that they have crossed the permissible level of 50-60dB.The Master plan 2021 directs the formulation of a detailed policy for managing the noise pollutants and keeping them in limits thus tackling this problem by all means. It calls for devising a location specific action plan which first identifies sources which cause noise pollution and then evolve a solution tackling that particular source. Thus it has instructed the concerned authorities to draft solutions which would embark upon these sources .It has been observed that the most common noise pollution causing agents has been traffic and traffic congestion related problems. Accordingly, the Master Plan 2021 Delhi calls for a precise Noise Monitoring and Control Plan so to make this effort gain direction and momentum.

The Master Plan 2021 has scripted ways in the Noise Monitoring and Control Plan to block the proliferation of noise pollution from the areas which are high on noise pollutants levels. The plan identifies that the only remedy to decrease noise pollution level is to relocate public, semi-public and commercial activities along with major transport routes. It calls for planting trees in such a way that they act as natural barriers to prevent the spread of noise to adjoining areas. The Master Plan 2021 plan has paid attention to subtle nuances also like it has pointed out that even air-traffic causes noise pollution which is strong enough to disturb ecological balance and cause physiological disturbances .Hence the master plan claims that there is an equal urgent need to formulate a precise policy to tackle noise pollution from all the s sources.

However, the master plan 2021 Delhi has attracted criticism from environmental and ecological experts. Environmentalists and ecological experts have critically appreciated the plan as being devoid of practical elements. Critics view that though the recommendations made in the plan are very constructive, it is not just the notifications which can help to alter the scene; it is the effective and prompt implementation of policies which would make the desired impact and yield results in the short and long run. Members of intellectual fraternity remark that the much-awaited Master Plan Delhi 2021 seems a non-starter to correct the flaws that had been prominent in the previous master plans.

The mixed land policy has also been criticized by the experts as being a deterrent factor in this mission of controlling noise pollution. In fact the idea of planting trees between the commercial zones and residential structure to control noise pollution also appears very unrealistic at this stage when paucity of land is very strongly felt.

The extensive use of Compressed Natural Gas has not been very functional when it comes to addressing the issue of air pollution in the capital which also has been accepted in the Master Plan 2021.The high incidence of industrial units, specially the thermal power plants in the city have been mainly responsible to emit substantial quantity of pollutants.

The plan categorizes that considerable air pollution is caused by vehicles and to control that, the public transport system should be made a viable option for traveling. Hence it calls for making the public transport system efficient and passenger friendly. The Plan advocates use of inter-modal integration and single-ticketing so as to make the public transport easy enough for people with personal users to opt for it.

Though the plan has been criticized for not providing an absolute panacea for the problems like pollution of all types plagued in the capital, environmentalists have reasons to be happy as at least attention has been paid to the ecological concerns which they have been vociferating for a long time now.