According to government monitors on Tuesday, the illicit burning of agricultural fields in northern India hit a record high this season, contributing to a poisonous fog that is strangling millions of people, including in the capital city of New Delhi.
The government-run Punjab Remote Sensing Centre reports that 1,251 field fires occurred in Punjab, an agricultural centre in the north known as “India’s wheat bowl” on Monday.
At the beginning of each winter, tens of thousands of farmers in the states of Punjab and Haryana burn their crop residue around the capital, preparing fields for wheat by clearing them of freshly produced rice.
Although the practice is prohibited, farmers nonetheless use it as the quickest and least expensive method of getting their fields ready for the upcoming crop season because legal enforcement is lax.
India is the world’s biggest exporter of rice and a major exporter of wheat.
Since September, Punjab has recorded 9,655 farm fires. The previous highest number on a single day was 730, which was recorded on November 8.
Levels of PM2.5 pollution, which are harmful microparticles that cause cancer and enter the bloodstream through the lungs, soared above 60 times the WHO’s recommended daily maximum in New Delhi on Monday, the day with the highest number of fires.
Farmers, who make up a sizable portion of the electorate, continue to deny their involvement in the haze, claiming that they are unable to adopt more costly practices without significant government assistance.
Every winter, when cooler air traps pollutants near the ground, a veil of dangerous smog descends on New Delhi, aided by the ash-grey smoke from the fires.
Various piecemeal government initiatives have failed to measurably address the problem, with the smog blamed for thousands of premature deaths each year and particularly impacting the health of children and the elderly.
In an effort to reduce smog, city officials on Tuesday increased restrictions on building and diesel-powered trucks and extended the mandate that all schools move to online instruction for all students.
Authorities anticipate less traffic if kids stay at home.
According to IQAir pollution sensors, the PM2.5 pollutant levels in New Delhi reached 309 microgrammes per cubic metre on Tuesday, which is 20 times more than the WHO daily safe limit. This indicates that the air quality has somewhat improved.
Based on samples gathered over a five-year period, The New York Times reported last month that hazardous vapours were also emanating from a power plant that burned trash from the capital’s waste garbage mountains.
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