Bus ridership in Delhi has dropped from 60% in 2000 to 41% now. Every year, Delhi needs an area the size of 310 football fields for parking its vehicles. And Delhi has one of the highest particulate matter (PM10) levels in South Asia. These are some of the findings of a recent Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) assessment of air pollution and policies of different cities in dealing with it. That gives you a comprehensive picture of the growing vehicular population and the resultant pollution. However, bus ridership may have been affected by the switch to Metro. But it’s not all gloomy. Delhi has the most robust, real-time air quality monitoring system which in many ways is far ahead of other cities. The city has the largest capacity for continuous monitoring and reporting of tiny particles of less than 10 micron size (PM10) and less than 2.5 micron size (PM2.5), nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), ammonia and air toxics, including benzene, xylene and toluene. It also reports data on toxics like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), lead and nickel. It also provides historical data for the previous seven days with meteorological data, including wind speed and direction, ambient temperature, humidity and solar radiation. This helps both people and scientists keep track of everyday air pollution. CSE has also commended Delhi for reversing the cap on the number of auto-rickshaws. The Delhi government has managed to put auto-rickshaws on a GPS tracking system (still in the process) and the drivers are being issued smart cards for proper enforcement. Recently, the city prepared street design guidelines which incorporate vending zones, three-wheeler stops, road furniture and pedestrianoriented lighting. The assessment was released at a day-long discussion on Thursday with stakeholders and environment department representatives from across the country. Sanjiv Kumar, environment secretary, Delhi, who made a brief presentation on Delhi’s policies, said that the pollution problem in the capital cannot be tackled just by taking steps in Delhi. “Delhi is also bearing the impact of pollution from sources outside Delhi in NCR,” he said. Sanjiv Kumar said Delhi government’s department of health is working on guidelines to brief people about the health impact of air pollution. “We are struggling with enforcement issues as a lot of non-commercial vehicles are entering Delhi from Gurgaon which also adds to air pollution,” he said. CSE executive director Sunita Narain said it’s time that India is considered as one air shed. “Its time all cities and towns across India had Euro 4 fuel norms. Smoke plumes and wind factors affect the entire country. Why should some cities have clean fuel while others don’t?” she asked. NOT TOO GOOD, NOT TOO BAD Delhi has the highest number of cycle trips City needs an area the size of 310 football fields to park its vehicles. Chennai needs space equivalent to 100 football fields, Chandigarh 58 and Bhubaneswar 30 Delhi has one of the highest exposures to vehicular emissions in the world. Its exposure quotient is 100 iF, next only to Kolkata with 150 iF in Asia. (iF is measured as grams of vehicle pollution inhaled per grams of vehicle pollution emitted) What other cities are doing Mumbai has highest number of walk trips Small towns like Gangtok have taken steps like completely pedestrianizing the heart of the city Kolkata has banned cycles in certain parts