Delhi pollution: Although it has decreased in Punjab, stubble burning is still dangerous

 Delhi pollution: Although it has decreased in Punjab, stubble burning is still dangerous

There has been an increase in stubble burning in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh, despite it not receiving much attention. Furthermore, scientists claim that there are other factors contributing to Delhi's air quality rapidly declining during the last week besides stubble burning.

On Tuesday, the Delhi region's neighboring states were severely criticized by the Supreme Court, which ordered them to act quickly to stop stubble burning, which it said was a significant cause of air pollution in the nation's capital. The court's anger was directed mostly at Punjab since the state is thought to be the largest contributor of pollution due to stubble burning. Data, however, indicates that although Punjab continues to lead the rest, the total number of stubble burning incidents in the state has decreased recently. In the meantime, they have increased in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh.

Delhi has seen a consistent drop in air quality throughout the winter for a number of years. The Central Pollution Control Board states that since November 1st of this year, the city's air quality has continued to have a "severe" negative effect on public health. Over 38% of the PM2.5 particle concentration in Delhi's air on Wednesday was caused by stubble burning, according to data from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology. Conversely, the second-largest source, transportation, contributed little more than 11%.

Stubble burning is the process of lighting crop residue on fire to prepare the land for the following crop to be sown. Stubble burning is the least costly and most convenient option for farmers to clear their fields because of their narrow profit margins and the need to sow the next crop as soon as possible to maximize their returns.

The most incidents of stubble burning that have been reported throughout the years have occurred in Punjab. Indeed, as of this year, the state is responsible for almost 65 percent of all stubble burning incidents nationwide since September 15.

Data from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) show that from September 15 to November 7, 31,872 stubble burning incidents were reported in India. Even on Tuesday, Punjab reported 1,515 incidences of stubble burning as the Supreme Court sternly condemned the state. It has been the deadliest day of the year so far, with 3,230 stubble burning incidents reported in Punjab on November 5.

The comparison of the statistics by year reveals that Punjab has, in fact, been able to reduce the number of stubble burnings in recent years. Since September 15 of this year, the state has registered 20,978 stubble burnings; this is a decrease of more than 67% from the 63,980 stubble burnings that were documented during the same time in 2020.

Another Delhi neighbor, Haryana, has also been successful in reducing the number of stubble burnings. Since September 15 of this year, the state has reported 1,605 cases of stubble burning, compared to 2,615 cases in 2022.

However, the number of stubble burning incidents reported in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, Delhi's other two neighboring states, has increased, while Punjab and Haryana are experiencing a declining trend. This year, stubble burning has increased by 63 percent in Rajasthan. As the above graphic shows, Uttar Pradesh has seen a 49 percent growth in the meanwhile.

Was Madhya Pradesh forgotten?

While Madhya Pradesh has mostly avoided criticism in public discourse while experiencing an increase in the number of stubble burnings reported in the state, neighboring Delhi and Punjab, particularly, have taken the brunt of criticism for the problem of stubble burning.

This is mostly due to the fact that the topic of Delhi's air pollution has long dominated discussions over stubble burning. While it may not have an immediate impact on the quality of the air in the nation's capital, Madhya Pradesh has the second-highest number of stubble burnings in the nation due to a lack of significant awareness campaigns among farmers, in contrast to those in Punjab and Haryana.

In 2023, there were 6,715 recorded stubble burnings in Madhya Pradesh, up from 3,021 in 2022—a gain of almost 122%.

In spite of this, Madhya Pradesh remains excluded from the federal government's Agricultural Mechanization for in-situ Management of Crop leftover plan, which offers financial assistance for the purchase of equipment necessary for managing crop leftover. At the moment, this plan only covers farmers in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh.

Burning stubble is not the only issue.

This winter's first significant increase in Delhi's air pollution occurred on November 2. This is due in part to stubble burning, but local sources of pollution like automobile emissions and concentration wouldn't have caused such a quick build-up if the pollution levels hadn't previously been raised. The fact that fewer stubble burnings have been reported overall than in other years, owing to the drop in Punjab and Haryana, lends further credence to this assertion.

This type of quick build-up is typical for this time of year and is usually caused by smoke from agricultural stubble fires and weather patterns that facilitate the smoke's journey to Delhi-NCR and contribute to the area's high levels of pollution. However, it must be remembered that because baseline pollution from local sources is already very high, this quick build-up can push air quality into the severe category, according to Avikal Somvanshi, Head of Urban Lab, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), who released the CSE's analysis report on Delhi's air pollution this week.

The CSE paper claims that Delhi has experienced a sharp increase in NO2 levels, which are mostly caused by cars. This suggests that vehicle pollution has a significant effect. In fact, compared to the first week of October of previous year, the average NO2 in the city has increased by 60%.

This means that even while stubble burning should be reduced, more work has to be done to limit pollution from other significant sources including construction, cars, industry, power plants, and rubbish burning.