Religion and science have come face to face with the Central Pollution Control Board setting up air pollution monitoring systems at a mahayagya being held in east Delhi by the Gayatri Chetna Kendra. The Kendra believes that a havan, especially one carried out using samagri created by its founder, releases positive energy into the atmosphere. It believes that not only does it tackle problems of pollutants but also kills harmful bacteria present in the air. The mahayagya is being performed specially for `vishwa vatavaran shuddhi' (purifying world atmosphere).
According to CPCB officials, two instruments have been installed at the MTNL grounds in Yamuna Vihar where the yagya started on Thursday and will continue till Saturday. "One instrument is to measure RSPM levels while the other will measure levels of NOx, SPM and SO2. This is being done purely on an experimental basis and our results will be available in another 8-10 days. The levels of pollutants during the three days of the yagya will be compared with the general level of pollutants to see if there was any change in their value, said a senior official.
Meanwhile, representatives of the Gayatri Chetna organization claimed that such studies had been carried out earlier as well, all of which confirmed their belief that havans not only cleaned the environment but also purified the mind. "Our founder, Pandit Sriram Sharma Acharyaji, developed samagri after much research. He used a special quality of wood for burning and other things like red sandlewood, peepul, sugar and kapoor as part of the samagri. Our belief is that at a particular temperature, the kind of herbs that we are using reduces the carbon content in the atmosphere. In villages where this yagya was carried out, we saw how it also reduced the effect of harmful fertilizers as the particles released during the yagya mixed with atmospheric moisture and diluted the effect of the harmful chemicals,'' said Pradeep Dikshit, incharge of the NCR's Delhi chapter of the organization.
The project, as would be be expected of any such experiment, had its fair share of sceptics. "I do not want to get into a religious debate here but the point is, measuring change in air pollution in such a short span is not possible. To add to it, weather conditions have been highly variable during Thursday and Friday. The strong winds on Thursday night and rain on Friday evening would have led to a decrease in pollution levels. So, the readings one would expect from this would not be accurate,'' said a senior scientist with the CPCB.
