₹1,298.38 Crore Of Green Tax Collected, ₹700 Crore Unused, Still Delhi Gasping For Breath. Why?

It is a tale of suffocation, neglect, and bureaucratic slumber wrapped in a green cover of promises. Since 2015, when the Supreme Court directed that an Environment Compensation Cess (ECC) or “green tax” be collected from commercial vehicles entering Delhi, the city has raised a staggering ₹1,298.38 crore through this measure. One would imagine that with such a robust war chest, the smog-choked skies of the capital would have started to clear, that roads would have been lined with dust suppression units, that industries would be held accountable, that children wouldn’t have to breathe poison every morning before school. But in reality, Delhi remains one of the most polluted cities on the planet.

As of September 2023, an astonishing ₹682.49 crore of this ECC money sits unused. That’s right; over 50 percent of the total funds collected in the name of the environment have not even been deployed. And this is not some benign unintentional underspending. This is an unforgivable act of environmental apathy. Delhi is literally choking, and the state and municipal governments have been sitting on mountains of cash meant to prevent exactly this.

Let’s talk about how these funds have actually been used. Of the total ₹1,464 crore collected till date, ₹781.51 crore has been allocated to just seven projects. Of this, a whopping ₹765 crore, that’s over 98% of the spending, has been handed over to the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) for the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS). This might sound like a futuristic project on paper, but let’s be real: It doesn’t address Delhi’s air pollution problem today. The RRTS is an infrastructure project meant for inter-city transit, not an anti-smog intervention. It’s a strategic allocation that smells more like a political investment than an environmental one.

What about actual air pollution mitigation efforts? Water sprinklers? Anti-smog guns? Dust vacuum vehicles? Thermal imaging? Satellite-based pollution monitoring? Public transport electrification? Nada. Another ₹15 crore was allocated to the Indian Oil Corporation for an HCNG (Hydrogen-CNG) project; crores were flushed into that trial. ₹1.51 crore was given for RFID systems, non-motorised vehicle lanes, and civil defense traffic marshals. All good on paper. But were these interventions impactful? Were they even sustained? There is no transparent audit.

This green tax is levied on every commercial vehicle entering Delhi.

From October 2015 onwards, every truck, every two-axle container, every three-axle delivery van paid ₹700 to ₹1300 depending on the size. The tax excluded CNG and essential service vehicles, but for the rest, it was a compulsory toll; a price to pay for polluting Delhi’s lungs. The collection points? 124 border checkposts. The system? Fragmented, inefficient, and reportedly poorly monitored.

Now comes the most damning part: The people paying the green tax never knew why they were paying it. According to officials, the communication to commercial drivers and transporters was haphazard at best. There were no standardised awareness campaigns, no multilingual signage at border points, no mass communication using radio or trucker channels. Many drivers, especially those from neighbouring states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan, were caught unaware. The levy was imposed without adequate explanation, without empathy, and without clarity.

The Supreme Court’s intent was clear that use the tax to compensate the environment for the damage inflicted. But the municipal corporations, the Delhi government, and even central stakeholders have failed to uphold that spirit. The ECC fund was not meant to be Delhi’s next infrastructure slush fund. It was a health emergency response budget. And instead of deploying it to procure cutting-edge technology or strengthen pollution monitoring networks, the powers that be have let it gather interest in bank accounts.

What makes this neglect even more perverse is the yearly ritual of smog. Every winter, Delhi turns into a gas chamber. Children suffer irreversible lung damage. The elderly choke. Outdoor activities are banned. Construction is halted. Schools are shut. The Air Quality Index (AQI) routinely crosses 400, sometimes 500, levels considered hazardous even for healthy adults. During this very crisis, the ECC fund remains untouched. Why?

When asked, officials dodge responsibility. Some blame the slow pace of project clearances. Others cite lack of inter-departmental coordination. Some say the funds require more detailed plans before release. But here’s the truth: There’s no political will to prioritize environmental health. Pollution is not seen as an election issue. There is no vote in clean air. And so, the money lies unused.

There is no dearth of anti-pollution solutions. Countries like China, which once had cities as smoggy as Delhi, have demonstrated rapid turnarounds. Aggressive vehicle emission policies, relocation of heavy industry, urban tree plantations, large-scale adoption of electric public transport, 24×7 air quality mapping, and citizen engagement programs turned Beijing around. Delhi, on the other hand, sits on half its green fund and continues to build metro corridors and highways in the name of pollution control.

This isn’t just administrative lethargy. It is institutional betrayal. Citizens are told to carpool, to plant trees, to wear N95 masks. But what is the government doing with the resources it has? Hoarding them. Misallocating them. Dodging accountability. A freedom of information push should reveal that a significant portion of the unspent ECC has not even been earmarked with a plan. It just sits there, like a cynical reminder of Delhi’s failed environmental governance.

Environmental justice demands that the ECC money be spent in transparent, outcome-oriented ways. Delhi needs anti-smog towers, portable air purifiers in schools and hospitals, mass plantation on arterial roads, incentives for electric vehicle conversion in the logistics sector, air quality labs in every district, and pollution data shared with the public in real-time.

We have the money. We have the crisis. What we don’t have is the courage to act.

The air in Delhi is not just polluted with smoke; it is thick with betrayal. ₹1,298.38 crore was collected in the name of every Delhiite’s breath. More than half of that was denied to them. If there was ever a scandal hidden in plain sight, this is it.

Until we hold those responsible to account, Delhi will keep choking, not for lack of money, but for lack of morality.