A layer of haze lingered over the national capital on Sunday as its air quality index (AQI) deteriorated further and touched the 245 mark, which falls in the poor category.
The adjoining areas of Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Greater Noida, Noida, Baghpat, Murthal recorded an AQI at 290, 233, 280, 279, 259 and 245 respectively.
The air quality in Haryana’s Alipur Khalsa (351) and Panipat (339) turned “very poor”, according to Central Pollution Control Board data.
For the first time in the past three months, the air quality of Delhi has been declared “poor”. Between the months of July and September, the quality has remained ‘satisfactory’ due to monsoon and favorable wind conditions, reported NDTV.
Why Is This Happening?
On Saturday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said smoke from crop residue burning in neighbouring states has started reaching Delhi and the air quality has started deteriorating.
“It has been widely reported that the smoke coming to Delhi is due to the burning of stubble in Karnal, Haryana,” he had said.
“The fire counts in Punjab and Haryana have increased significantly over the last two days. The wind direction in Delhi is westerly which is unfavourable thereby carrying the smoke from the stubble burning towards Delhi,”LS Kurinji, research analyst with the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), quoted by IANS
"Delhi will probably encounter poor air quality in the coming days due to the prevailing wind direction and the stubble burning," she added.
The Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research said smoke from stubble burning will make up six per cent of Delhi's pollution by 15 October.
The 10-member task force on the Graded Response Action Plan had on Friday held a meeting on the stubble burning incidents reported from Punjab and Haryana, and its likely impact on Delhi-NCR's air quality.
V K Soni, a senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department, who attended the meeting, said winds are calm due to monsoon withdrawal, leading to low dispersion of pollutants.
Also, wind direction has changed to west and north west, he said.
Westerly and northwesterly winds bring dust from western regions and smoke caused by burning of crop residue in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana to Delhi-NCR.
Stubble Burning in Punjab Has Increased
Though Haryana has reported a slight decrease in the number of stubble burning incidents, Punjab has reported a massive increase of 45 per cent in such cases till 11 October, according to data of pollution control boards of the two states.
Though stubble burning is banned in Punjab and Haryana, farmers continue to defy the ban amid a lack of financial incentives.
The state governments are providing 50 to 80 percent subsidy to farmers and cooperative societies to buy modern farm equipment for in-situ management of paddy straw and running a massive awareness campaign against stubble burning.
Starting 15 October, stricter measures to fight air pollution will come into force in Delhi and its neighbourhood as part of the Graded Response Action Plan, which was first implemented in Delhi-NCR in 2017.
These measures include a ban on diesel generator sets, closure of brick kilns, stopping entry of trucks in Delhi and construction activities, and introduction of the odd-even car rationing scheme.
(With Inputs from NDTV)
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