Delhi’s Green Budget

Why in news?

Delhi released its first Green budget to improve quality of air in the National Capital Region.

What is the significance of the green budget?

• Under the green budget Delhi has announced many new programmes under four Departments namely Environment, Power, Transport and PWD.
• Some of the initiatives includes 1,000 new fully electric buses, subsidies for electric vehicles, LED street lamps and incentives for residential and agricultural users who install solar panels.
• The government has proposed to give incentive to industries to switch over to piped natural gas and subsidies to firms to switch over to clean fuel-based power generators.
• Apart from these, first comprehensive city-wide inventory of greenhouse gas emissions will also be carried out.
• Dedicated information system showing levels of pollution will be set up inside all government buildings.
• Government has also planned for an innovative scheme named Agriculture-cum-Solar Farm scheme.

What are the challenges in implementing these programmes?

• The Delhi Transport Corporation has 6,000 buses, but it needs to maintain a fleet size of 11,000 buses.
• An addition of 1,000 new electric buses may mean lesser emissions, but it does little to address the overall supply gap.
• This means more private vehicles on the street and consequently a greater dose of pollution.
• The primary sources of pollution vary seasonally like in winter, it is the crop burning in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana that affects Delhi’s air quality.
• And in summer, it is dust from construction, storms, roads, etc.

What measures needs to be taken in this regard?

• Tackling the existing problems needs coordination between different states bordering the national capital, and also with the Union government.
• Thus synchronizing with the efforts of neighbouring governments is needed to tackle these issues effectively.

Source: Financial Express