Rain relief for smog-hit North and rabi crops

The rains would help in blowing away the thick blanket of haze which has surrounded much of North India, mainly in the NCR

The light to moderate rains which lashed several parts of North India including the main grain growing belts of Punjab, Haryana and west Uttar Pradesh (UP) since last night , will not only help in lowering the intensity of the smog which has engulfed the region in the last few days, but could also be beneficial for the ongoing rabi sowing season.

"The rains could be classified as very light rains and it lashed across North India in the states of Punjab, Haryana and west UP. It will help in reducing the intensity of the smog," said B P Yadav, director of India Meteorological Department (IMD). 

The rains where accompanied with winds, would help in blowing away the thick blanket of haze which has surrounded much of North India, mainly in the National Capital Region (NCR). The smog has been caused due to burning of rice stubs in the open fields of Punjab and Haryana, had engulfed the entire North India, making breathing difficult. 

It reached alarming levels few days back, compelling the Union government to issue advisories to the four north Indian states to take strict action against farmers, who burn the stubs in open field in contravention of the law.

The open burning has also been one of the major contributor of climate change from India. State governments of Punjab and Haryana have already enforced penalties on such burning, but it is of little use. 

"We have been issuing advisories to farmers, not to burn the rice stubs in open field, but instead adopt zero tillage technology, through which the same can be buried within the field itself. But, farmers have not been very responsive to the same," Indu Sharma, director of Karnal based Directorate of Wheat Research said.

She said that the rains which have been light to moderate would be beneficial for the wheat crop and could fasten its sowing, but might not be of great value to the standing basmati crop, whose sowing has been delayed due to water logging in the fields. 

"Sowing of the standing basmati crop might be delayed further if the rains lead to water logging in the fields, which could further delay sowing of wheat in north India," Sharma added.

G P Sharma,vice president of Skymet Weather said that the rains have been caused due to a western disturbance and have been very light to make any tangible impact. "The showers won't continue for long and the cloud cover will go away in the next few days giving way to clear blue skies," Sharma said.