There is a much bigger perpetrator that is causing the air of Delhi to deter at such hazardous levels. The weather plays a very minute yet a pivotal role in making the air of Delhi hazardous but blaming it sole on weather or the bursting of crackers during Diwali is not the correct way to go about it.
Upon considering various factors that may have induced such smog over Delhi, the results are startling as cracker burst during Diwali adds just a quarter to the smog that has engulfed the city. Stubble burning or crop burning is an age old practice that is widely popular in states like Punjab and Haryana, considered to be the major and hidden culprit that no one is willing to talk about.
Straw burning or basically stubble burning is a practice that is followed by millions of farmers across the northwestern states of Punjab and Haryana. The leftover burning of straws has fuelled the smog over Delhi and neighboring areas with an estimation of about 32 million tons of it left. Farmers burn these straws to make room for plantation of winter crops.
The farmers are also left with no option other than burning the straws as government’s recycling process is something that most farmers cannot afford. Happy Seeder, the machine that recycles the straw, costs about Rs.150,000 which is unaffordable for the farmers. Another viable and sustainable option of reusing the straws is to create a market for them.
As of now, 7 power plants have been created that could generate electricity from straw in Punjab, and 6 more are on the way. But even with all 13 power plants, the consumption would be only 1.5 million. The total production of straw from Punjab is about 20 million tons every year which is less than 10%.
As of now, there is a law in Indian Constitution that prohibits the burning of straw, but like many laws in the country this one is also overlooked. Given good subsidies in place, and making Happy Seeder affordable for the farmers, is a small but effective step towards a clean air.
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Please Note: Any information picked from here must be attributed to skymetweather.com