Delhi added 3.43 lakh vehicles to its roads this year. Are we still surprised with the level of pollution?

With the rising levels of pollution in the capital, the Delhi government, on 29 December, informed that the total number of new vehicles registered in Delhi increased from 5.34 lakh in 2014-15 to 8.77 lakh in 2015-16.

The total number of registered vehicles in Delhi during 2015-16 is 97.05 lakh, which could factor in the alarming levels of reducing air quality in Delhi.

Out of total registered vehicles, there are about 29.87 lakh cars and jeeps and 61.04 lakh motorcycles and scooters. The total number of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses plying on roads are 4,352, out of which 1,276 are air-conditioned. The services of DTC were availed by around 35.37 lakh daily average passengers during 2015-16.

Could rising incomes be one of the reasons for the rising number of vehicles?

According to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the per capita income of Delhi is Rs 2,80,142 during 2015-16, up by Rs 28,131 in comparison to 2014-15. The per capita income at National level is found to be Rs 93,293 during 2015-16.

On 29 December, Sisodia released the Delhi Statistical Hand Book 2016 prepared by the Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Delhi. This handbook contains data relating to various socio-economic parameters in 23 broad chapters.

The handbook further stated that the number of mobile phones in Delhi as on December 2015 stood at 4.79 crore as compared to 4.54 crore in December 2014. The number of landline phones have also increased from 31.23 lakh in December 2014 to 31.57 lakh in December 2015.

The total number of consumers of electricity increased from 50.44 lakhs in 2014-15 to 52.63 lakh in 2015-16. Out of total electricity consumers, 42.89 lakh were domestic, 8.71 lakh commercial and 52,308 industrial. The consumption of electricity decreased from 24,477 million units in 2014-15 to 24,037 million units in 2015-16.

In regards to water, the number of metered connections increased from 18.63 lakh in 2014-15 to 19.49 lakh in 2015-16. The water consumption also increased from 14,085 lakh kilo litres in 2014-15 to 14914 lakh kilo litres in 2015-16. The per capita consumption of water in Delhi is 48 gallons per day.

As per the handbook, there are 1,131 health institutions with 48,131 beds in Delhi as on 31 December 2015. There are 225 maternity and child welfare centres with 440 beds and 716 Allopathic, 261 Ayurvedic / Unani & 164 Homeopathic dispensaries in Delhi.

The total number of schools in Delhi were 5,796 in 2015-16. Around 44.31 lakh children were enrolled at different levels during 2015-16 in these schools as compared to 44.13 lakh during 2014-15. Out of 44.31 lakh, enrolled students up to Sr. Secondary school level, 23.56 lakh were boys and 20.75 lakh were girl students.

The average number of beneficiaries of old age pension was 4.08 lakh in 2015-2016. Under Ladli scheme 1.74 lakh girls got financial benefits during 2015-16. Financial Assistance/ Unemployment allowance was given to 65,070 disabled persons during 2015-16.