Centre and Delhi govt continue spar over stubble burning as air improves slightly

New delhi: As Central government agencies insisted that stubble burning's contribution to Delhi's air pollution would be comparatively less this year, the air quality in the Capital improved slightly and settled in the "poor" category on Friday with wind speeds picking up and transporting pollutants.

However, NASA's satellite imagery showed a large cluster of farm fires near Amritsar, Patiala, Tarn Taran, and Firozpur in Punjab, and Ambala and Rajpura in Haryana. The city recorded an air quality index (AQI) of 251 at 10 am. The 24-hour average AQI was 315 on Thursday, the worst since February 12 (AQI 320).

And even as the Central Pollution Control Board insisted that stubble burning would be less this year, it also said that wind conditions in September this year had resulted in pollutants accumulating in the NCR. The CPCB also noted that rainfall for last month was not at par with previous years.

"Meteorological conditions have been extremely unfavourable in September and October this year as compared to the corresponding period last year," CPCB Member Secretary Prashant Gargava said.

But as agencies spar with each other over the source of pollutants and the action taken by them, experts have time and again continued to warn governments of the especially serious consequences of pollution this winter in light of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government and civic bodies in the city continued their extensive drives to check polluters and impose fines on them if found flouting regulations. In fact, Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday directed a Rs 1 crore fine to be imposed on the North Delhi Municipal Corporation for failing to act against garbage burning in Kirari. Moreover, the SDMC has also issued challans worth Rs 50 lakh to various agencies for not following anti-pollution measures.

Furthermore, Rai on Friday also directed officials in concerned departments to prepare a ground report and submit it by Monday on the implementation of the 'Red light on, gaadi off' campaign to curb vehicular pollution in the city

Officials said the traffic police have been asked to identify areas that witness long traffic snarls. Civil defence volunteers will be deployed at traffic lights to create awareness among people. Their number will be maximum in areas reporting frequent traffic congestions, they said.

The volunteers will adopt the 'gandhigiri' approach in their efforts to create awareness and offer roses to commuters found keeping the engines of the vehicles on at red lights, the officials said.