Delhi Air Pollution On The Rise; Is Stubble Burning To Be Blamed Again?

Stubble burning from states like Haryana and Punjab is often cited as the biggest cause behind the spike in Delhi air pollution as winter approaches. But recently the Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said that it only contributes to 4 percent Delhi’s pollution.

New Delhi: Women are seen wearing masks to get protection from air-pollution, in New Delhi. (PTI Photo/Manvender Vashist)

New Delhi: Every year as winter approaches, the capital city Delhi grapples with the crippling problem of rising air pollution. The smog season brings the worst quality air in many parts of the Delhi NCR. This year the problem has manifolded with the pandemic. On Friday while the Air Quality Index (AQI) has improved in many areas  Wazirpur and Alipur recorded the AQI of 323 which falls in the worst category. This comes after the area saw an AQI of 372 on Tuesday. One of the main causes of pollution is considered to be stubble burning by farmers in neighbouring states such as Haryana and Punjab. Stubble burning In states like Haryana and Punjab, the rabi season in which farmers sow wheat begins from the first week of November and lasts till mid-December. Sowing beings soon after the harvest of paddy which has to be completed by the last week of October. In order to save time, farmers usually burn the leftover straw from the harvest. The smoke from burning the stubble is then picked up by the wind and it blows over Delhi raising the level of air pollution in the city. According to a report by Mint, this year stubble burning incidents have increased in Punjab by four times. The news agency ANI has reported that as many as 2,873 incidents have been reported between 21 September and 12 October this year. Anil Sood, Head ACM division, Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, Ludhiana said, "From 21st Sept to 12th Oct last year, 755 stubble burning incidents were reported in Punjab while 510 in 2018. In the last 2 years, harvesting was delayed due to rainfall. Since the weather is dry this year, more stubble burning cases are being reported. It's difficult to draw an overall comparison with preceding years till harvesting is underway." Blame game On Thursday, Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar said that only four percent of Delhi’s pollution is due to stubble burning. He said that other local reasons such as dust, construction, biomass burning etc are responsible for pollution this year. A PTI report says that NASA's satellite imagery showed a large cluster of farm fires near Amritsar, Patiala, Tarn Taran, and Firozpur in Punjab, and Ambala and Rajpura in Haryana. But the Ministry of Earth Sciences' air quality monitor for Delhi has said that its impact is negligible. The agency said that the share of stubble burning in Delhi's PM2.5 concentration was just 6 percent on Thursday, one percent on Wednesday, and around 3 percent on Tuesday, Monday and Sunday. PM2.5 particles are less than 2.5 microns in diameter. Due to their size, these particles can enter the lungs and cause damage. Similarly, a research report by the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) based on data for 2018 and 2019 said that Delhi's pollution is localised and not attributable to farm fires in Punjab or the NCR. The Punjab government has also supported this and said that the AQI for Punjab is much better than in Delhi. The Punjab CM Amarinder Singh has also blamed construction and demolition activities for Delhi’s pollution problems. The Delhi Cheif Minister Arvind Kejriwal has countered by saying that staying in denial will not help. "Staying in denial will not help. If stubble burning causes only 4 percent pollution, then why has pollution suddenly increased last fortnite? The air was clean before that. Same story every yr. There’s no massive jump in any local source of pollution in last few days to cause this spike?," said Kejriwal said in tweet. Raghav Chadha,Aam Aadmi Party MLA said that in 2019 CPCB won estimate said that stubble burning contributed up to 44 percent to the national capital's air pollution. While the debate on the cause continues, the Delhi government has also undertaken measures to tackle the problem. Kejriwal, on Thursday, announced another initiative called 'Red Light On, Gaadi Off' campaign in which he has urged people to turn off their car engines when they stop the vehicle at a red light. The use of diesel, petrol, or kerosene powered generators in Delhi and NCR has also been banned from October 15 to 15 March 2021 under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). Anti-smoke guns have been placed at various construction sites in order and it has been made mandatory for demolition sites larger than 20,000 square meters. The government has also inaugurated ' a green war room' in the Delhi Secretariat to keep an eye on the measures to control pollution.

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