Haze in Delhi due to agri-waste burning

The Times of India , Saturday, November 01, 2014
Correspondent : TNN
New Delhi: The current haze-like condition in Delhi could be linked to agricultural waste being burnt up north in Punjab and Haryana. Images released by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration from its moderate resolution imaging spectro-radiometer (MODIS)'s aqua-satellite suggest a thick blanket of aerosols lying over northern Indian states including Delhi.

Delhi Pollution Control Committee officials as well as scientists at System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) under the ministry of earth sciences said that such burning of agricultural waste may be adding to Delhi's local pollution load.

The images taken on October 30 and October 19 show a large area covered with red dots which suggest fire. Similar images were released in 2012 by NASA which also showed a thick layer of aerosols and fire spots. While DPCC has linked it to high air pollution levels in Delhi, several experts said it was not true as the wind direction was not towards the capital. They criticized the state pollution watchdog for not facing up to local emission sources and not acting to cut them.

"This is very similar to what happened in 2012. Every year around October and early November, farmers harvest the kharif crop and sow the rabi crop. Many resort to burning the straw and other waste. We need to know whether the wind is blowing towards Delhi. We have been recommending for long now that we take the air shed approach. Pollution doesn't have boundaries. All states need to act together," said Anumita Roy Chowdhury, head of Centre for Science and Environment's Clean Air programme.

Prompted by high air pollution in Delhi and Noida, some Noida-based environmental activists even filed a petition in National Green Tribunal last year against straw and waste burning in agricultural fields.

Gufran Beig, chief project scientist at SAFAR which is a joint programme with Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), said the effect of cyclone Nilofer that will hit Gujarat coast on Saturday was weak but it has changed the wind pattern. "The wind blowing towards Delhi is from north-northwest. They are carrying a lot of moisture. They are passing near the zone where biomass waste is being burnt. It's likely to increase air pollution levels in Delhi in coming days," he said.

The levels of PM10 (coarse, large particles) will be higher than PM2.5 (fine, respirable pollution particles) due to this change in wind pattern. The PM2.5 level on Friday was 141 micrograms per cubic metre, about twice the standard, and PM10 was about 241 micrograms per cubic metre, again twice the standard. PM2.5 levels are likely to go up to 181 micrograms per cubic metre by November 3.

"On October 2, the environment secretary also issued directions to all state chief secretaries to avoid such biomass burning. The humidity in the air is pulling these aerosols down," an official from DPCC said.

 
SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Delhi/Haze-in-Delhi-due-to-agri-waste-burning/articleshow/44999488.cms
 


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