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| Edited By: DNA Web Team |Source: DNA Web Desk |Updated: Oct 21, 2022, 05:56 AM IST
October marks the onset of winter season in North India and it brings along the season of stubble burning, perceived to be a major contributor of air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region.
We are calling it a season, but it has been consistent with its arrival for the past one decade. The season of stubble burning also brings along a spell of political blame game, promises and advertisement battles.
Every year, plans are chalked out to deal with the issue of stubble burning, decisions are taken to curb the rising levels of pollution, social media is filled with debates and discussions but the problem remains intact. All this happens around Diwali and a quarter of environmentalists start advocating ban on firecrackers.
Lesser incidents of stubble burning have been reported this year. However, they are likely to increase in the coming days as during the Punjab Assembly polls earlier this year, the ruling AAP had promised to withdraw criminal cases registered against farmers over stubble burning.
On October 19, 436 cases of stubble burning were reported in Punjab, 122 in Haryana and 36 in Uttar Pradesh. A total of 3,491 cases of stubble burning have been reported between September 15 and October 19. Of these, Punjab has the highest 2,625 cases while Haryana saw 586 cases.
The air quality index in Delhi has already started reaching hazardous levels. On Thursday morning, the AQI level at Anand Vihar was 390 whereas the average AQI across Delhi was over 200, which falls under ‘Poor’ category.
On Wednesday, the Commission for Air Quality Management held an emergency meeting to deal with the increasing pollution. After this meeting, the second phase of the Graded Response Action Plan was implemented in Delhi. It is believed that after October 22, the situation in Delhi may worsen due to pollution.
Under Stage 2 of GRAP, roads will be cleaned every day, water will be sprinkled on the roads every other day, coal or tandoor will not be used in hotels and restaurants, Parking fee will be increased to reduce the use of private vehicles so that people can use public transport more and more. The use of diesel generators will be banned except in emergency services such as hospitals, rail, metro, airports, national security and defence.
While sale, purchase and bursting of firecrackers was already banned in Delhi, the Arvind Kejriwal government has now announced publishing for bursting crackers. Any person found bursting crackers in Delhi will be fined Rs 200 and may also face imprisonment of up to 6 months.
Apart from this, making, storing or selling firecrackers in Delhi will lead to imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of up to Rs 5,000.
However, these restrictions seem to be limited to the common man, and not on certain people. While on hand hand, the Delhi government claims to be taking strict steps against use of firecrackers, their own party supporters have been accused of bursting crackers on Wednesday.
BJP leaders allege that after Raj Kumar Anand being made a minister in the Kejriwal government, his supporters burst firecrackers in front of his house.
This brings to light the selective imposition of laws and rules in Delhi regarding bursting of firecrackers, and a similar situation is in the case of stubble burning.
The issue of stubble burning is political, so there is always a tussle among Delhi, Punjab and Haryana where each one accuses the other.
Until last year, the Kejriwal government in Delhi used to blame the Punjab government (then led by the Congress) for being unable to curb stubble burning. But now, both Delhi and Punjab are ruled by the Aam Aadmi Party. So, it is expected that the two state government will work together to resolve the issue.
