Toxic air returns to haunt India's smog-choked capital

[beijingwalker]

Toxic air returns to haunt India's smog-choked capital​

BY ARSHAD R. ZARGAR
NOVEMBER 1, 2022 / 7:37 AM / CBS NEWS

New Delhi — Indian authorities were scrambling on Tuesday to address deteriorating air quality as farmers burning crop stubble and calmer winter winds turned the capital city into a smog chamber. On Monday, the Delhi government halted all construction and demolition work in the city as India's Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed air quality deteriorating to "severe" levels.

At that level, air pollution "affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases," according to the board's categorization system.

Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI), which measures the concentration of very fine particles know as PM2.5 in the air - particularly harmful pollutants, as they're easily inhaled and can settle deep in the lungs - crossed 403 on Monday per the CPCB's data. On Tuesday, the AQI in New Delhi even hit 600 in some places. Anything over 300 is classed as "hazardous" on the international AQI rating system.

Even the air quality monitors installed at the U.S. Embassy in Delhi, which sits in one of the cleanest and greenest patches in the city, registered an AQI of 337 for a while on Tuesday morning.


Residents of the Indian capital weren't likely to see much improvement over the next week, with weather conditions expected to remain calm and the seasonal crop stubble burning likely to continue.

The Delhi government sent fire fighting teams to about a dozen air pollution hot spots on Tuesday to douse the ground with water, hoping to control dust contamination. Already there were more than 500 water sprinklers and 350 anti-smog mist guns in operation around the capital, deployed amid the Hindu Diwali festival last week, which brought the usual blanket of smoke from fireworks.

The anti-smog guns create an ultra-fine fog of water droplets that adhere to dust particles in the air, ideally leaving them to fall to the ground.

The Delhi government is following a Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to combat air pollution in the city. Under the plan, construction activities are banned at stage three — when the air quality hits the "severe" level.

Stricter measures can be taken if the average air quality worsens to "Severe Plus," with an AQI of more than 450, including shutting down schools and offices and limiting the number of vehicles allowed on the city's roads.

Weather forecasters warned that the air quality was likely to worsen from Tuesday, as wind speeds will drop further, moving less of the smog out of the region.

"It is the responsibility of all of us to take initiative at every level to stop pollution," said Delhi's environment minister Gopal Rai, announcing a proposal for drivers to switch off their vehicles engines while they wait at traffic lights.

The Indian capital is choked with toxic air almost every winter thanks to a confluence of factors, but a significant proportion of the smog comes from the huge farm fires in the neighboring states of Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh.

Many farmers burn off the remains of their crops, the stubble left sticking out of the ground, to prepare their fields for the next crop. It's a much cheaper option than transporting the stubble for proper disposal.

The practice has been formally banned by the country's Supreme Court, and farmers were warned they would face fines for violating the decree, but it has served as a weak deterrent.

Between September 15 and October 31 this year, Punjab state alone recorded 16,004 farm fires – almost 3,700 more than during the same period last year. Haryana state has recorded 1,921 farm fires this year.

Satellite imagery from NASA's Fire Information for Rescue Management System showed a dense patch of red dots on Tuesday, which indicate live fires, in Haryana over the past 24 hours.

Toxic air returns to haunt India's smog-choked capital

The annual blanket of air pollution hanging over Delhi is due to a confluence of factors, but it's a serious health threat, and it's expected to get worse.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[lastofthepatriots]

It’s so bad it affects Lahore too..

 

[epebble]

This (burning agricultural waste) seems like a global bad practice. Isn't there a better alternative? I think in Malaysia or Brazil they set off forest fires due to these stubble fires.

 

[SoulSpokesman]

@epebble

Solutions are available but government will have to subsidise them, it is worthwhile in my opinion

1. Have machines which can bury them insitu.
2. Dig them up and convert to biogas- viable but requires large investments in storage, baling etc

Regards

 

[TNT]

When will these morons learn not to burn stuff in winter. People in our area gather dried leaves and then burn them in winter, which can produce smoke for a week and in winter that smoke remains stagnant and causes allergies and difficulty in breathing. I have had verbal fights with these ppl and yet these educated bafoons dont stop.

 

[SoulSpokesman]

@TNT bhai

Stubble burning happens your side of Punjab too?

Regards

 

[Maula Jatt]

@TNT bhai

Stubble burning happens your side of Punjab too?

Regards

Burning dried leaves =\ stubble burning lol, not even close braah
and he is from KPK

 

[-=virus=-]

every year same shit

 

[epebble]

@epebble

Solutions are available but government will have to subsidise them, it is worthwhile in my opinion

1. Have machines which can bury them insitu.
2. Dig them up and convert to biogas- viable but requires large investments in storage, baling etc

Regards

Is this (stubble burning) an ancient agricultural practice or modern one due to easy availability of inflammables like kerosene. I can't imagine how they could have done this in 19th century, for example.

 

[lastofthepatriots]

Is this (stubble burning) an ancient agricultural practice or modern one due to easy availability of inflammables like kerosene. I can't imagine how they could have done this in 19th century, for example.

Everything dries up in the winter, genius.

 

[SoulSpokesman]

@epebble

Is this (stubble burning) an ancient agricultural practice or modern one due to easy availability of inflammables like kerosene.

It is the marvel of a very modern agricultural practise- monoculture of rice (a crop nearly alien to Punjab) followed by wheat. Paddy gets harvested in mid to end Oct and farmers have to plant wheat by early Nov. There is no time to clear up the stubbles nor do they have economic means of removing them. By default the only option is to burn the stubbles. Kerosene is not needed, just light a matchstick and you are done.

Regards

 

[TNT]

@TNT bhai

Stubble burning happens your side of Punjab too?

Regards

I am from kpk and stubble burning is not common here, though dry grass is burnt in mountains that are used for grazing.

Burning dried leaves =\ stubble burning lol, not even close braah
and he is from KPK

I know but if dried leaves burning is so annoying then stubble burning would be worst. The big issue is that we have basement rooms and once that smoke enters basement rooms, its hard to remove. I have seen piles of leaves slowly burning for weeks and the smoke stays around.

 

[Black Tornado]

Got Asthama? Thank a farmer!

 

[kuge]

This (burning agricultural waste) seems like a global bad practice. Isn't there a better alternative? I think in Malaysia or Brazil they set off forest fires due to these stubble fires.

annual smog/haze from farming lands mainly indonesia used to haunt malaysia ~august-september but no more since 2017 i supposed....i m so glad for that...

 

[lightoftruth]

AAP has a habit of lying with a straight face, for many years they blamed everyone including punjabi farmers etc

They did Odd Even BS ,threw Hindus in jail for celebrating Diwali with firecrackers.

And now when they have Punjab governance they are blaming central govt, they are utterly useless/incompetent.

They are allowing punjabi farmers for there political benefits while chocking Delhi.