Raising the air bar

RED-FLAGGING air pollution as a global health risk that contributes to 70 lakh deaths worldwide every year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued air quality guidelines which are far stricter than the previous recommendations made 15 years ago. According to the WHO, 90 per cent of the world’s people already live in areas with at least one especially harmful type of pollutant, such as particulate matter, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide. The new norms will be tough to implement for countries such as India, which are already struggling to meet the relatively relaxed guidelines that were released back in 2005-06. As per the World Air Quality Report-2020 prepared by Swiss organisation IQAir, 22 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities are in India, with Delhi being ranked as the most polluted capital city around the globe.

The WHO’s recommendations came on the day India’s Commission for Air Quality Management directed the governments of Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to strictly implement monitorable action plans to prevent and control stubble burning, the seasonal menace that drastically worsens air quality in most parts of north India every October-November. With foodgrain production estimated to set a new record of 150 million tonnes during the 2021-22 kharif season, it is inevitable that the amount of crop residue generated — particularly paddy stubble — will also be enormous.

Plans are afoot to use PUSA biodecomposer, a microbial solution that turns stubble into manure, on 6 lakh acres in UP, 1 lakh acres in Haryana and over 7,400 acres in Punjab. Another eco-friendly method involves the utilisation of paddy straw pellets and briquettes in biomass and power generation plants. The challenge is to encourage farmers to sell stubble to the industry instead of setting it aflame and aggravating air pollution. The respective state governments need to proactively act as a facilitator for the farmers, who can supplement their income by supplying crop residue for optimum use as biofuel — and at the same time do their bit for the environment.