Not just Punjab, Delhi, UP & Rajasthan also to blame for haze

Tribune News Service

Neeraj Mohan

New Delhi, December 10

The Centre has said that in addition to incidents in Punjab and Haryana, the burning of paddy residue in several districts of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan also contributes significantly to the deterioration of air quality in Delhi and its neighbouring areas every year.

In addition to the 36,663 and 2,303 paddy residue burning cases reported from Punjab and Haryana, respectively, between September 15 and November 30, 39,186 instances were witnessed in Delhi and NCR districts in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. During this period, the air quality plunged into the severe and very poor categories, exacerbated by unfavourable climatic and meteorological conditions that hindered the dispersion of air pollutants.

While Haryana achieved nearly 37 per cent reduction in farm fires this year compared to 2022, Punjab and NCR districts of UP and Rajasthan witnessed a 27 per cent decline, said Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ashwini Kumar Choubey in the Rajya Sabha.

However, the minister also admitted that besides farm fires, the air pollution in Delhi-NCR resulted from various other factors, including high levels of anthropogenic activities in densely populated areas of the NCR across various sectors. “While a substantial reduction was recorded in farm fires this year, the resultant benefit in AQI was not evident owing to much adverse meteorological factors like very low and calm wind speed near Delhi, very low mixing height and very low ventilation coefficient,” he said.

The government asserted that the distribution of subsidised machinery to farmers played a crucial role in reducing farm fires over the past couple of years. A significant 27 per cent decline was achieved over the past one year, with the government investing Rs 2,440.07 crore in subsidies to provide over two lakh crop residue machinery units to farmers. Over 39,000 custom hiring centres were established, allowing small and marginal farmers to rent machines for crop waste management.

39,186 cases RECORDED THIS YEAR

While Punjab and Haryana reported 36,663 and 2,303 paddy residue burning cases, respectively, between September 15 and November 30, a whopping 39,186 instances were witnessed in Delhi and NCR districts in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

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#Agriculture #Environment #Farm Fires #Pollution #Rajasthan #Uttar Pradesh