Farm fires in Punjab and Haryana might have resulted in a sudden increase in environmental pollutants in the last days of the odd-even road rationing scheme, environmental non-governmental organisation (NGO) Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said on Tuesday.
Releasing its analysis of the air quality data during the second phase of the Delhi governments scheme, which ran from April 15-30, the NGO said air pollution took a downward dip during the first 10 days but registered a sudden increase after April 22.
The NGO said this was because of burning of farm refuse, which started in the rural parts of Punjab and Haryana from April 19. It pointed to satellite imagery from NASA, showing that during the first few days, there was virtually no crop fire in the two states.
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"From April 21, there was a sudden spurt in crop fires that became widespread and intense from April 23, and April 26 was particularly bad. During the spike, pollution levels increased despite the increase in wind speed," CSE said. It said major cities in north India as far as Agra and Lucknow witnessed a distinct and sudden spike in pollution after April 23, when PM2.5 increased by as much as 92 per cent and nitrogen dioxide by 47 per cent. After April 26, the air quality index worsened by 20-22 per cent within a day.
The NGO said between April 15 and April 23 PM2.5 levels declined substantially compared to the previous fortnight. The average PM2.5 level during the first nine days was 24 per cent lower than the average of the previous fortnight. CSE said the scheme was an important temporary emergency measure to help control pollution. However, it suggested the scheme be implemented along with longer-term solutions for lasting gains.
Critics have lambasted the scheme for being short sighted and flawed after pollutants failed to drop in Delhi during the scheme. The NGO said it conducted research into the matter after the argument of vehicular pollution not majorly contributing to air pollution started dominating public discourse.
