Air Pollution in Delhi in October 2020

Air Pollution in Delhi in October 2020

In October 2020 we saw that the air pollution in the national capital has been the point of concern. With the rise in stubble burning and the onset of the festive season, a spike in air pollution levels was observed in the national capital. The air quality of Delhi was in the 'very poor' category as the AQI was recorded at 310.

Reason for air pollution in Delhi in October

1. According to a peer reviewed study conducted by scientists at the National Physical Laboratory, 72 per cent of Delhi’s wind in winters comes from the northwest, while the remaining 28 per cent comes from the Indo-Gangetic plains.
2. The dip in temperature is also behind the increased pollution levels. The inversion height which is the layer beyond which pollutants cannot disperse into the upper layer of the atmosphere is lowered and concentration of pollutants in the air increases.
3. Wind speed dips in winters which are responsible for dispersing pollutants. AQI dips even more when factors such as farm fires and dust storms are added to the already high base pollution levels in the city.

Role of farm fires in Delhi Air Pollution

Farm fires of Punjab and Haryana played the major role to increase the pollution level in Delhi. Let’s discuss some key points related to the Air pollution in delhi.

1. Stubble burning which is a way to get rid of paddy stubble quickly and at a low cost, gained widespread acceptance when governments of Punjab and Haryana passed laws delaying the sowing of paddy.
2. The aim of passing this law was to conserve groundwater as the new sowing cycle would coincide with monsoons and less water would be extracted.
3. This left very little time for farmers to harvest paddy, clear fields and sow wheat for the next cycle.
4. The paddy straw and stalks have high silica content and are not used to feed livestock.
5. The alternatives like the happy seeder machine which helps covering the residue, are seen as unavailable, and money and time consuming by smaller farmers.
6. A 2015 source-apportionment study on Delhi’s air pollution conducted by IIT-Kanpur also states that 17-26% of all particulate matter in Delhi in winters is because of biomass burning.
7. The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) has developed a system to calculate the contribution of stubble burning to Delhi’s pollution.
8. Last year, during peak stubble burning incidents, its contribution rose to 40%.

Various steps taken by the government to address the pollution

Recently the Central government and the state government have took some major steps to address the air pollution in the capital city. Some of them are mention below-

1. The effort to reduce vehicular pollution, which experts say is more harmful as it is released at breathing level, the following has been done:
2. The introduction of BS VI (cleaner) fuel
3. Push for electric vehicles
4. Odd-Even as an emergency measure
5. Construction of the Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressways