While air pollution in Delhi has forced the state government to go with the odd-even formula, Mexican Ambassador to India, Melba Pria, is not alien to such a situation.
United Nations has declared Delhi as the world’s most polluted city, next to Beijing, China. Almost three decades ago, Melba’s city Mexico was also crowned as the world’s most polluted. What did they do? They fought it and eventually defeated it.
In 2012, Mexico City recorded 248 days of ‘good’ air quality levels. During this year, Delhi managed only 16 such days when the air was safe to breathe. But Mexico City’s air wasn’t always so clean. In 1989, three years before the UN declared it the world’s most polluted city, Mexico introduced the revolutionary ‘Hoy No Circula’ which translates into ‘today, (your car) does not circulate’.
The formula was then applied in various parts of the world namely Bogota, Sao Paulo, Santiago, and Beijing. It can be considered as the perfect knee-jerk reaction to get things started in difficult times.
Ambassador Melba recalls how rationing of road space helped Mexico City find long-term solutions to the city’s pollution problems. She remembers other important norms like strict vehicle fitness, catalytic conversion in all vehicles, expansion and development of public transport, and others being pressed with an iron-hand.
But Mexico City’s story is not just an administrative success story. It also involves the disciplined and selfless contribution of the people of Mexico City. Without politicizing the issues, the people of Mexico City adapted to road-rationing methods undertaken by the government.
While mainstream media continues to present the odd-even formula in Delhi as a ‘debatable’ topic, it must be remembered that Mexico City had no examples when it first used road-rationing as a means to counter pollution. Even Melba recalls how Mexico City residents had become ‘animals of habit’ to the ‘doorstep to car’ routine. But with concentrated efforts, it all changed and today nearly 70% of residents use public transport on ‘Hoy No Circula’ days.
If Delhi can draw inspiration from Mexico City’s story, the poison in the air will eventually go down. A few lifestyle adjustments and we all can breathe freely in Delhi again.
(Featured Image Credit: theweek.in)
