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NATION NOVEMBER 11, 2022 | The Indian Eye 6

Severe crisis: Stubble burning in Punjab

adds to Delhi’s air pollution problem

The Air Quality Index level on November 3 has been between 440 to 460 across Delhi which as

per various sources “affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases”

OUR BUREAU
New Delhi/Chandigarh

ith Air Quality in the na-
tional capital continuing to
Wremain in the ‘severe’ cat-
egory for consecutive two days, the
SAFAR (System of Air Quality and
Weather Forecasting And Research)
Friday reveals that the stubble-burn-
ing contributed 34 per cent in Delhi’s
PM 2.5 pollution.
The air quality in Delhi contin-
ued to remain in the ‘severe’ catego-
ry on Friday morning as the overall
Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city
jumped to 472. Noida, which is part
of the national capital region, record-
ed an AQI of 562, and continued to
remain in the ‘severe’ category, while
Gurugram’s AQI stood at 539 and
continued to remain in the ‘severe’,
as per data released by SAFAR (Sys-
tem of Air Quality and Weather
Forecasting And Research) India.
Air Quality Index from 0 to 100 is
considered as good, while from 100 to
200 it is moderate, from 200 to 300 it
is poor, and from 300 to 400 it is said Sprinklers being used at a construction site to curb the rising air pollution, near Anand Vihar Metro Station, in New Delhi on Friday. (ANI Photo)
to be very poor and from 400 too 500
or above it is considered as severe. vents inflow of stubble-related pol- both healthy people and those who al- However, the area of fields burnt
People of Delhi and the National
Capital Region (NCR) on Thursday lutants. Higher surface wind speed ready have illnesses, it said. It sought has witnessed a drop of 1 per cent
so far. Senior Environmental En-
woke up with complaints of choking on 5th Nov is likely to disperse pol- direction for appointing a high-level gineer of Punjab Pollution Control
and ‘eye burning’ due to smog and air lutants,” said a press release. committee under the chairmanship Board, Gurbakhshish Singh Gill said
pollution leaving people gasping for Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of a retired Supreme Court judge to that 1,144 incidents of stubble burn-
breath. on Friday agreed to hear on Novem- tackle the air-pollution crisis due to ing have taken place in the state till
North Delhi Air Quality record- ber 10 a plea seeking measures to stubble burning.
ed the poorest as almost all the sta- curb worsening air pollution in Del- The plea further urged that the Thursday and 24,146 such incidents
in Punjab.
tions in the region displayed AQI hi-NCR. schools, colleges, government and “We are working in coordination
above 400. Most of the stations in the A bench of Chief Justice of India private offices to go virtual/online in with the government. Efforts are on.
capital have an AQI above 300 with UU Lalit and Bela M Trivedi posted order to protect the life of people at Farmers are being sensitized. Our
the exceptions of a few like Mandir the case for hearing on November large. teams are monitoring the situation.
Marg in central Delhi. 10 after an advocate mentioned the The advocate said that the pol- We are hopeful of the situation being
However, the forecast predicts matter for urgent hearing. Advocate lution is caused because states like
that the condition of air quality in Shashank Shekhar Jha, who filed the Punjab have failed to provide an al- in our control this time,” he said ear-
lier on Thursday.
Delhi and nearby regions will contin- plea, told the bench that stubble burn- ternative to the farmers against stub- He attributed various factors to
ue to deteriorate further and expects ing has increased in Punjab. The peti- ble burning.to control pollution. the deterioration in the Air Quality
improvement from November 5. “Air tion said the AQI level on November Meanwhile, stubble burning Index (AQI).
quality is likely to remain within ‘Se- 3 has been between 440 to 460 across continued unabated in Punjab with
vere’ today and likely to improve to- Delhi which as per various sources the state reporting nearly 24,000 such “There are various factors re-
morrow to ‘lower end of Severe’ and “affects healthy people and seriously cases so far, an official said on Friday. sponsible for the deteriorating AQI.
from 5th onwards air quality is likely impacts those with existing diseases”. The incidents of stubble burning Stubble burning is one of them, oth-
to improve further to ‘Very poor’ due An AQI of 400 or higher is con- have seen a rise in parts of Punjab er is Diwali, transportation and other
to upper-level wind reversal that pre- sidered “severe,” and it can affect this year in comparison to last year. atmospheric conditions,” he said.

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