Stubble burning share in Delhi pollution rises to 6% in 24 hours

The contribution of farm fires to Delhi's PM2.5 concentration jumped from 1 per cent to 6 per cent in a span of 24 hours on Thursday, according to the ministry of earth sciences' air quality monitor SAFAR.

Though its share was lesser than other pollution sources, it triggered a war of words between Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Javadekar said only 4 per cent of the pollution in DelhiNCR was due to crop residue burning and the rest was due to local factors. Kejriwal criticised him and said "being in denial will not help". THE Delhi CM took to Twitter and asked why pollution had suddenly increased in the last fortnight if stubble burning causes only 4 per cent pollution.

Aam Aadmi Party MLA Raghav Chadha said the Central Pollution Control Board's own estimate of 2019 suggest stubble burning contributed up to 44 per cent to NCR’S air pollution. The air quality hit an eight-month low on Thursday.

Data from System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) showed that the share of stubble burning smoke in PM2.5 concentration of Delhi-ncr was 1 per cent on October 14, and rose to 6 per cent on October 15. Between October 10 and 13, the share hovered between 2 per cent and 3 per cent. The jump could be attributed to the sudden increase in burning events in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, as the window of wheat sowing draws closer.

“An increase in stubble burning counts was observed on Wednesday around Haryana, Punjab, and neighboring regions. The fire count was estimated at 740. Wind direction is partly favourable for transport of smoke from farm fires. So, an increase in stubble smoke contribution in PM2.5 is expected,” SAFAR said.

Data from Indian Agriculture Research Institute showed that on October 14, satellite events detected 711 residue burning events in Punjab, Haryana and, western UP — 103 per cent more than similar events recorded in October 13. Between October 1 to October 14, around 4,015 such events have been recorded in Punjab, Haryana and western UP — 89 per cent more than the same period last year.

Punjab led with 3,029 events, comprising 75.4 per cent of the total fire burning sites, followed by Haryana with 737 events, and western UP with 249 events. Incidents of fire in Punjab this year was 254 per cent more than last year between October 1 to 14. In Haryana, it was 26 per cent less than last year, and in UP it was around 8.11 per cent less than last year.

Some scientists said the advancement of paddy procurement season by 15 days could be reason why farmers are rushing to clear their fields. Others said the sudden rush in Punjab to plant potato could also be a factor. One solution that scientists and policymakers are eagerly looking at is bio-decomposers — a mix of micro-organisms and other ingredients that when sprinkled over stubble fastens their decay.

But senior scientists from the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), which is spearheading the research, said it is too early to predict whether they can be an effective solution as the time taken for decay is more than a month, while farmers have a window of just three weeks to clear paddy stubble and sow next wheat crop.