Farmers Movement Archive

40% of Delhi’s PM2.5 on Sunday from over 3,000 farm fires, says IMD

Over 3,000 incidents of stubble fires in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on Saturday contributed to 40% of PM2.5 load in Delhi’s air -- the highest so far, scientists said. With over 6,000 points of fire visible over thee states in the satellite thermal imaging on Sunday, the air quality in Delhi-NCR may further deteriorate, they have warned. North-westerly winds blowings towards Delhi are bringing pollution particles from north-western states where farm fires are raging as well as cold air from the Himalayas, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. Farmer leaders said farm fires will continue in Punjab for at least 10 more days until harvesting of Kharif crop is complete.An unusually high number of fire counts were observed over Punjab (3,616), Haryana (162), UP (47) and MP (404) on Saturday which is impacting air quality in Delhi NCR and the entire north-western region, said air quality early warning system under the ministry of earth sciences. “There are over 6,000 fire points visible today which is extremely high. Air quality may deteriorate to a severe category in Delhi if wind speed reduces,” said Vijay Soni, scientist, IMD, air quality division.Harinder Singh Lakhowal, general secretary, Bharatiya Kisan Union, agreed that the number of farm fires is unusually high. “This is because of two reasons. One is that farmers are agitating against the farm bills. They are not in a mood to comply with directions. They are also looking to complete harvesting in the next 10 days. There is little monitoring by law enforcing agencies also because of widespread agitation. Farm fires are particularly high in Barnala, Bhatinda, Ludhiana and surrounding areas,” Lakhowal said. Soni, however, pointed out that if not for good wind speed, Delhi’s air might have plunged to the ‘severe’ category. “The only reason Delhi escaped the impact of severe air quality is because of favourable meteorological conditions. Wind speed ranged from 10 to 18 kmph on Sunday which aided dispersal but air quality can deteriorate if the high number of farm fires persist,” added Soni.The ventilation index on Sunday was approximately 10,000 m2/s on Sunday. The ventilation index is a function of the mixing height and the wind speed and defines the ability of the atmosphere to disperse contaminants. A ventilation index below 2,350 sq metres/second is considered poor. Mixing height is the height at which pollutants mix in the air.“On Saturday, there were 3,826 fire points according to the analysis I got. Out of that around 3,600 fires were in Punjab. It’s true that more stubble fires are being recorded in Punjab this year. Last year, a total of 19 million tonnes of paddy from Kharif season had arrived at the mandi. This time already 15 million tonnes has arrived. Out of the 4 million tonnes that is left, 2 million tonnes is Basmati which leaves a stubble that is normally used as fodder. So, I would say 75 to 80% of harvesting is done already. Let’s see what happens in the coming days,” said Trilochan Mohapatra, director general, Indian Council for Agricultural Research.“My personal understanding is that farmers’ anger against farm bills is having an impact on farm fires,” he added.The city recorded an air quality index (AQI) of 370 at 3 pm. The 24-hour average AQI was 367 on Saturday. It was 374 on Friday, 395 on Thursday, 297 on Wednesday, 312 on Tuesday and 353 on Monday.An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

Hindustan Times

02-11-2020

Delhi