 "Stubble burning")
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Saturday that the number of stubble burning incidents recorded in neighbouring states so far is fewer than last year, and the overall contribution of farm fires to the city's air pollution is expected to reduce.
However, he cautioned that air pollution may increase in the coming days due to unfavourable meteorological conditions.
Only around 2,500 stubble burning incidents have been recorded so far, compared to 5,000 such cases during the same period last year, he told reporters here.
According to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Punjab, which accounts for the maximum number of cases of stubble burning every year, reported 49,922 farm fires in 2022, compared to 71,304 the previous year and 83,002 in 2020.
The agrarian state logged 50,738 incidents of stubble burning in 2019, 59,684 in 2018, 67,079 in 2017, and 1,02,379 in 2016.
Haryana recorded 3,661 farm fires in 2022, down from 6,987 in 2021 and 4,202 in 2020. The neighbouring state witnessed 6,364 incidents of stubble burning in 2019, 9,225 in 2018, 13,085 in 2017, and 15,686 in 2016.
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Rai emphasised that vehicular emissions are a major contributing factor to Delhi's pollution during winters.
The government launched the 'Red Light on Gaadi off' campaign to curb vehicular pollution on Thursday, a year after Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena put it on hold, questioning its effectiveness.
A 2019 study conducted by the Central Road Research Institute showed that keeping engines running at traffic signals can increase pollution levels by more than 9 per cent.
A range of emission inventory and source apportionment studies carried out for Delhi in the past few years suggested that on-road vehicular exhaust emissions account for 9 to 38 per cent of PM2.5 emissions in the capital.
The campaign will be conducted in all the assembly constituencies in the city on November 2, and more than 2,000 eco clubs will take it to every school on November 3.
Delhi's air quality deteriorated from "poor" to "very poor" on Saturday, and it is predicted to worsen further due to unfavourable meteorological conditions, according to weather monitoring agencies.
The city's average Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 301 at 12 noon, worsening from 261 on Friday.
The AQI was 286 in neighboring Ghaziabad, 268 in Faridabad, 248 in Gurugram, 284 in Noida, and 349 in Greater Noida.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good,' 51 to 100 'satisfactory,' 101 to 200 'moderate,' 201 to 300 'poor,' 301 to 400 'very poor,' and 401 to 500 'severe.'
According to the Centre's Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, the city's air quality deteriorated to the 'very poor' category due to slow wind speed at night and a dip in temperatures. The air quality is expected to remain very poor until the end of the month.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
