With Delhi under ‘severe’ air quality, Beijing offers its pollution-control playbook

Delhi, which has battled toxic air since Diwali, banned the entry of non-BS VI vehicles only earlier this week and has also barred refuelling of overage vehicles.The Chinese embassy spokesperson also pointed to measures such as licence-plate lotteries, odd-even and weekday driving restrictions, and massive investments in metro and bus networks, alongside a rapid push for electric mobility. While Delhi has experimented with the odd-even scheme, its impact on pollution levels has been limited.Jing underlined that Beijing’s gains were made possible through coordinated policies across the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, preventing pollution spillover from neighbouring areas. In contrast, one of Delhi’s biggest challenges remains stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Despite repeated directions from the Supreme Court for coordinated action, lapses and inter-state blame games have blunted enforcement.The second pillar of Beijing’s clean-air push was industrial restructuring. According to the embassy, more than 3,000 heavy industries were shut down or relocated. “Relocating Shougang, one of China’s largest steelmakers, alone cut inhalable particles by 20%,” the post said.Vacated industrial sites were converted into parks, commercial districts and cultural or technology hubs. The former Shougang industrial complex, for instance, was transformed into a key venue for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Beijing also shifted wholesale markets, logistics hubs and even some educational and medical institutions to nearby cities, retaining only high-value research, development and service sectors in the capital.While the suggestions from the Chinese embassy have drawn attention, experts caution that Delhi has heard, and even attempted, many of these measures before, with marginal success. Beijing’s turnaround followed a five-year national action plan launched in 2013, which included shutting coal-fired boilers, expanding public transport, promoting new-energy vehicles and accelerating the shift to green energy. The city’s last-mile connectivity now relies on micro-buses, shared mobility options such as bikes and e-scooters, ride-hailing services and even autonomous vehicles.



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