At 46%, crop fires had max share of PM2.5 load
There were over 3,500 crop stubble fire locations in Punjab between October 23 and 30 compared to only 313 such locations in Haryana, shows Nasa data
NEW DELHI: About 46% of Delhi’s PM 2.5 pollution load, the highest this season, was contributed by crop stubble fires in neighbouring states on Friday, according to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar) of the ministry of earth sciences (MOES).
Based on Safar’s forecasting model, the share of stubble burning may reduce marginally – 38% – on Saturday. Delhi’s severe air quality on Friday can be attributed to adverse meteorological conditions and peak stubble burning season in Punjab, experts said. There were over 3,500 crop stubble fire locations in Punjab between October 23 and 30 compared to only 313 such locations in Haryana as per Nasa data collated by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
There has been barely any reduction in stubble fire numbers despite Centre’s subsidy scheme for in-situ management of stubble worth Rs 1,100 crore. But the high fire numbers this year suggest it did not make a dent.
A senior environment official said “Punjab had assured in the last meeting that machinery is being distributed. Centre has disbursed all the money for it to both Punjab and Haryana. We don’t know how states used it.”
There was no wind until 10 am on Friday in Delhi, according to the Regional Meteorological Centre, Delhi, which intensified the impact of air pollution as it remained accumulated close to surface. Wind direction continues to be northwesterly (blowing through Punjab and Haryana).
“There was zero wind till afternoon. Winds have started picking up marginally at Palam. The main reason for high pollution levels and poor visibility on Friday is zero wind. A western disturbance is approaching around Nov 3, likely to bring rain to J&K, Himachal Pradesh, north east Rajasthan, Punjab. We are expecting wind speed to pick up to about 15 to 20 kmph on Nov 4 and 5,” said Kuldeep Shrivastava, director, of the regional centre.
Farmers’ groups said they did not benefit from the subsidy as some cannot afford the machines.
“In Haryana, 80% of the harvest is done while in Punjab 50% remains. In next 10 days, there will be a lot of fires in Punjab. Punjab has a lot of late variety paddy, which leaves stubble and needs to be cleared quickly to prepare for wheat. Haryana, however, has several varieties of paddy. Farmers in Punjab are also bearing the brunt of this as parts of Punjab are severely polluted. The government should give direct subsidy to farmers next time,” said Harinder Singh Lakhowal, general secretary, Bharatiya Kisan Union, Punjab.
“The reason Haryana had lower number of fires could be because more stubble management machines were made available here. Punjab has more area under cultivation. Haryana has a higher number of small holdings. Poor farmers in Haryana cannot afford the machines. Cost of managing stubble comes to about Rs 4,000 every harvest. It will be better if the government directly reimburses farmers. Over 3,000 Haryana farmers have been issued notices for burning stubble. We don’t think penalising farmers will solve the problem,” said Rattan Mann, chief, Bharatiya Kisan Union, Haryana.
Hyderabad-based Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) recently concluded a study on stubble burning in Punjab. “Subsidy went to machines but we found that overall economics for removing stubble is not working. Some behavioural changes should happen and farmers will have to move away from paddywheat combine. Since there is less than a month to prepare for wheat sowing, they have to choose either a paddy-pulses or wheat-pulses combine which should be supported by government. We will release our study soon,” said G V Ramanjaneyulu, executive director, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture.
MOES air quality early warning system said Friday stubble burning points in Haryana, Punjab and neighbouring Pakistan were observed but significant dust transport in Delhi from neighbouring states is expected.
The environment ministry had filed an affidavit in October stating stubble burning is one of the major contributors to bad air quality in Delhi in October and November. The Centre had disbursed 100% of the share of funds amounting to Rs 269.38 crore, Rs 137.84 crore, Rs 148.60 crore and Rs 28.51 crore to Punjab, Haryana, UP and some central agencies for machine distribution.
The ministry said there has been an 11% and 29.5% reduction in burning events in Punjab and Haryana compared to 2017, after the introduction of the subsidy. A new analysis of satellite data, however, suggests there was virtually no decline in 2018 compared to 2017, even as Centre implemented a new policy for in-situ management of residue.
The analysis by Hiren Jethva, Research Scientist with, Universities Space Research Association at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center suggests there were 64,410 fires in 2018 in Punjab, Haryana compared to 64,553 in 2017.