The air quality in Delhi remains in the poor category, owing to constant stubble burning in the neighboring states of Punjab and Haryana. Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain said that if stubble burning is not stopped, the consequences would be “disastrous” for air quality in the city. He also said that there would be zero tolerance for burning of garbage and crop residue.
With marginal drop in temperature in North India including capital territory Delhi and NCR, the poor air quality in the city has become a serious matter of concern.
If we look at the images from NASA’s FIRM (Fire Information for Resource Management System), crop burning has been occurring for the past few days and the images clearly shows a fire all throughout Haryana and some parts of Punjab.
FIRM Image For Last 7 Days
FIRM Image For Last 24 Hours
Mr. Hussain was also heard saying that a strict and immediate action is needed in order to halt the burning of crop residue. He also mentioned that it is beyond any reasonable understanding as to why this menace is being ignored despite knowing the fact that the consequences will be disastrous in the coming days.
As per weathermen, Delhi might witness light rain and some winds over the weekend, the level of moisture in the air and the pollutants from the stubble fires, industrial pollution, vehicle exhaust could impact the air quality negatively.
The Graded Response Action Plan, the pollution-control plan for the National Capital Region, was put into force earlier this week, leading to the shutdown of the Badarpur power plant and a ban on diesel generator sets.
Image Credit: NASA
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