Pollution up, Delhi asks neighbours to prevent stubble burning

The capital on Tuesday woke up to hazy weather conditions which, experts said, was the first sight of smog. Air quality dropped to ‘poor’ levels before it rained across the city .

In view of the situation, Delhi environment minister Imran Hussain has written to Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan urging them to take steps to curb burning of crop stubble.

Stubble burning in this season is a major contributor to air pollution apart from road dust, industrial sources, and vehicular emissions.

“With the onset of winter season, Delhi faces a critical phase of pollution due to meteorological conditions like wind pattern and low temperature, which aggravates pollution level especially concentration of particulate matters. The detail analysis of ambient data shows pollutants increasing trend in the month of October-November, which coincides with agricultural burning in neighbouring states,” the letter says.

The minister also wrote to the Union environment minister Anil Madhav Dave requesting him to issue directions to the authorities of Delhi’s neighbouring states to prevent burning of agricultural residue.

“The absence of wind and a heavy shower coupled with slight drop in the temperature has resulted in more dust getting trapped in the air,” said an expert.

Read: Sharp rise in air pollution, Punjabi Bagh worst affected shows HT data