If you're living in Delhi these days, you're waking up to a pea soup fog, stinging eyes because of out of control pollution levels, possible respiratory problems and perhaps a shortened life span too. We probably also received these via WhatsApp today: “HAZE KHAS, DHUAN KUAN, CHANDNI CHOKE, POLLUTENS DELHI” to indicate how very bad the problem is in the nation’s capital.
The pollution in Delhi routinely reaches life threatening levels and nothing seems to help. We tried odd-even, the government is thinking of closing schools and steeply hiking parking fees to deter people from driving. But nothing seems to help. Whatever measures the government and people at their individual level take, one huge contributor to Delhi's air pollution remains unchecked; which is stubble burning.
This is the method of clearing agricultural land quickly to ready it for the next crop. The farmers harvest their rice crop about this time of the year and then set fire to the remaining stalks (or stubble) in their fields, so that they can quickly plant their wheat crop there. Delay could mean lower wheat yields for the next seasonal crop.
Burning the stubble not only clears the field quickly but is also a cheap way to do so. It kills weeds, slugs and other pests as well. In many countries, stubble burning was very common, but is now less used or banned because of the way it adds to air pollution.
Delhi is surrounded by rural areas of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh where the main activity is farming. Farmers here most commonly burn their stubble at this time of the year, which coincides with the dropping temperatures. The smoke laden air blows in and settles over Delhi; causing a serious smog problem for the city.
The situation is particularly bad in Delhi because vehicular pollution, suspended dust particles and garbage burning already contribute to the air pollution and the crop burning compounds the problem.
Burning the crop stubble is banned in this area, but it still continues. Fines are imposed; however, in many cases, farmers find it easier to just pay the fine imposed rather than undertake clearing of the field via any other costly methods. So far, over a thousand Haryana farmers have been fined and over Rs 11 lakh has been collected by way of fine amounts.
A recent NASA image showed just how widespread this practice still is. The burning starts around the end of September and increases through October continuing well into November.
There is one view that crop burning is not the main culprit and that Delhi creates its own pollution. While this may be true, there is no doubt that crop burning adds to the problem because of Delhi's unique location. In a city such as Mumbai for instance, the traffic congestion and hence vehicular emissions may actually be much worse than Delhi, however proximity to the sea and sea breezes significantly mitigate the problem.
Delhi on the other hand is completely surrounded by agricultural areas unlike Mumbai. This time of year not being very breezy, the smoke from the field is not blown away either. The problem is further compounded by higher moisture levels in the air right now, which also traps pollutants and prevents them from dissipating.
Currently, the solution is to ban stubble burning and to fine farmers who do so. This is far from ideal because it burdens the farmer. A recent report by a specially constituted task force, has recommended a two pronged solution: firstly farmers have to be encouraged to utilize the stubble - soil incorporation of crop residue and secondly the value of paddy straw as a raw material for energy extraction and other products has to be enhanced. These could be implemented in the long term while as an immediate measure, the government could provide financial assistance for implementing non polluting crop clearance techniques.
It is clear that the solutions will be expensive and difficult to implement. Meanwhile other contributors to pollution such as garbage burning and vehicular emissions also have to be checked strictly. It now remains to be seen whether the governments concerned have the political will to put these into practice.
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