The air in Delhi is always polluted. but the government has chosen few escape routes to defend its inefficiency. Parali is one such excuse, crackers are another. The day is not far away when population of Dehi will be Blamed for exhaling too much carbon di oxide. US president George Bush had charged us in 2013 for rising food prices.
“Prosperity in countries like India is "good" but it triggers increased demand for "better nutrition" which in turn leads to higher food prices”.
The truth is Delhi air is always polluted. The data shows that it is polluted throughout the year. The real cause of pollution in Delhi is vehicular emission and construction work. This polluted air clubbed with smoke generated by burning parali becomes deadly. But before this also situation is grave.
Delhi hadn’t recorded any ‘good’ day in the year 2022 till September. In the first six months, data revealed that it had recorded seven ‘satisfactory’ and 47 ‘moderate’ air quality days. The data further showed that city saw 105 ‘poor’, 21 ‘very poor’ and one severe air quality day in the same time period.
In 2021, Delhi only recorded one such day due to unexpected rain on 18 October.
In 2020 despite locked down due to COVID-19, Delhi recorded only five ‘good’ days. Four of the five ‘good’ days were in August when it was raining and there was good wind speed. In fact, on 31 August, Delhi recorded its lowest-ever AQI reading at 41.
The truth is Delhi is being governed by a person who has created so world-class health services by media hype, yet he rushes to Bengaluru to take care of his personal health, indicating lack of faith in his own health services.
Beijing has improved despite being worst and he has made Delhi worst which was bad a few years ago. He has got an excellent reputation for spending big for advertisements. As a result the media is happy. It does not highlight the failure on these counts. For example: Smog tower in Delhi’s Connaught Place lies ‘non-functional’ amid heightened air pollution levels. Now the question is why money is spent when the plant is not working. It should lead to investigations to find the cause. It might be that the machine purchased is of substandard quality or the maintenance is poor. Had the plant worked what would have been the difference? But no investigation is being done neither any RTI is filed
It is surprising that the purchase of a few defective jeeps became a national issue in 1948 and was treated as a scam but no such action now. The court has taken cognizance of these misplaced priorities. “You Have Funds For Advertisements, But Not For RRTS Project?' Supreme Court Seeks Delhi Government's Ad Expenditure Details From 2020” Sohini Chowdhary www.livelaw.in
As if this was not enough, Supreme court has scolded Delhi government yesterday:
• The Supreme Court on Tuesday called Delhi's Odd-Even scheme “mere optics”.
• The Supreme Court directed the Delhi government to ensure that municipal solid waste was not burnt in the open.
• The Supreme Court on Tuesday summoned Delhi Pollution Control Committee chairman Ashwani Kumar for reportedly shutting down the two smog towers in the national capital and directed operationalizing the towers immediately.
The chief minister had blamed Haryana and Punjab in the past for burning Parali now Punjab is being ruled by his party only. While Haryana has made some headway in convincing the farmers but no such activity is visible in Punjab. The height of failure is reflected in a comment by CM Bhagwant Mann posted on X,
“प्यारे पंजाबियों ये किस राह पर चल पड़े ??...सरकारी कर्मचारी पराली ना जलाने का संदेश लेकर गया पर उसी से आग लगवा दी...हवा को गुरु साहिब ने गुरु का दर्जा दिया...हम इस दर्जे को बर्बाद करने के लिए अपने हाथों में तीलियां लेकर अपने बच्चों के हिस्से की ऑक्सीजन को खत्म करने में लगे हैं...पर्चा दर्ज होने लगा है...” November 4 2023.
The post refers to an incident where a government official was forced to burn parali while persuading the farmers against it. The helplessness of the head of state is alarming.
Why the official meet with this fate? Why did the farmer do this to him?
farmers in Punjab and Haryana are neither big nor rich. Agriculture, once considered the top profession, has degraded to its lowest level. Land has been constantly on division, hardly two acres on share of majority of farmers. Fertilizers, irrigations, electricity, seeds sowing, cultivating, harvesting are getting dearer, steep price rise is there. How the farmers manage it is only known to farmers. Had they had the option to utilize the stubbles, they would have utilized it.
Effects of parali burning on human health as well as environment.
Everybody is happy except the public which voted for freebies. It may look harsh but the truth is people like me have air purifier at home and suffer pollution only when we go out. But it is the poor people who voted for free electricity and water and transport, suffer the most.
As per research, the emission of greenhouse gases from burning of stubble are harmful for human. Health problem like skin and eye irritation, sever neurological cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, asthma chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),bronchitis, lung capacity loss, emphysema, cancer etc.
Why farmer will stop burning parali
If educated properly the farmer will understand, what they are losing by burning parali. As per research this burning leads to.
• increase in temperature of soil which leads to death of beneficial soil organism. We talk a lot about vermiculture but parali burning is killing the same.
• t reduces level of carbon and nitrogen in the soil. It is estimated that one ton of parali burning leads to loss 5.5 kg nitrogen and 1.2 kg Sulphur besides organic carbon phosphorus and potassium.
• Danger of acid rai due to suspended pollutants in the air.
Solutions
There are many option available right from using parali as fodder, happy seeder which helps in sowing in standing stubble, rotavator, zero till seed drill, baler, paddy straw chopper, reaper binder. Details are not being given as it is farmer specific knowledge. The best option is devised by Indian Agriculture Research Institute: PUSA Decomposer by ICAR. This is a bio-enzyme which decomposes the stubble in 20 to 25 days further improving the soil quality.
Funding
If government think rationally then farmers opting for decomposing can be provided subsidy. it will save the huge losses being suffered on account of smog. Even adding a small surcharge on petroleum products will provide enough money.
Not parali but the real villain is vehicular pollution and construction work, which needs permanent solution, not the odd even or temporary ban.
Odd even would have worked well, if people are using the car despite having effective public transportation. In the case of Delhi Public transportation does not serve its citizens to the last mile as a result, not only rich, but poor people are also being forced to own a personal vehicle to reach in time. I personally know a lot of low wage employees who have invested huge amounts of money to buy a vehicle which needs monthly maintenance, insurance and fuel expenses. On the other hand, people in New York, Singapore, Sydney or other metro cities in the leading nations have no such need. The bus, the metro, Trains and taxis provide point-to-point movement without hassle. In Delhi it is difficult to get an auto rickshaw for a distance of 1 to 3 km to reach home from a metro station. Same is the fate to reach office. Until the government creates an integrated transportation system working seamlessly, People will be forced to buy Personal vehicles, no matter how bad the pollution is or how costly is the parking.
Making parking very costly so that there is no incentive to own a car
It is already costly and time consuming to find an empty parking lot yet people are using cars and parking these on the roads and footpaths which are already encroached by police beat post, municipal garbage house and electric transformers. The government on the other hand turns a blind eye to shopkeepers parking vehicles on road in front of their shops. At many places it has made them authorized parking without bothering about traffic congestion. Illegal hawkers encroach most of the roads, then there are uncontrollable e-rickshaw everywhere. The result is traffic jams and vehicles are emitting co2 and CO without reaching anywhere. Delhi may be the only city in the world which has the unique honours of having traffic jams on flyovers itself.
Closing of the schools
The remedy is an eye wash Because the air is polluted everywhere, so not going to school is not helping the health of the child. The air purifier at my home takes one to two hours to make the air breathable. If the air quality is bad at home also then the child is losing health and his right to study both without gaining anything.
Putting a temporary ban on construction activities
When Delhi Metro was being constructed under the leadership of E. Sreedharan its construction never added to pollution. The reason was the Delhi Metro was sprinkling water to control dust. while digging tunnels, if there was a water source oozing out then this water was again harvested so that the water table does not go down. When such a big project can be Completed without disturbing the environment. Then why similar guidelines cannot be implemented for construction work. At present we are just delaying the pollution temporarily and killing the business and the employment. Mind it these are labourers who suffer most.
Apathy of public
It is strange that the city which took to agitation for a non-issue CAA which was planned to control illegal migrants only. The roads were blocked for months. The same city is not bothered about an issue which is harming the health of everybody. As per an article published in NDTV on 18th feb 2021, Air pollution caused by hazardous PM2.5 fine particulate matter led to the death of 54,000 people in Delhi. The Chhath puja devotee stand in filthy Yamuna but not a single voice is raised. In democracy voice of people matters. Media has failed to sensitize public which has failed to demand fresh air for family. Courts are hearing these cases but there is very little happening on ground. Its is bad to write with negative feeling but there seems to be no light at the end this tunnel filled with smog. Delhi needs a leadership, passionate about its welfare and its people. Presently the Delhi revenue is a tool to fulfill national ambitions of few where publicity is more important than performance.
By Rakesh Kumar
(The content of this article reflects the views of writers and contributors, not necessarily those of the publisher and editor. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only)
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