Every year in the period between September and November, coinciding with the festival of Diwali, farmers in North India set millions of tonnes of paddy straw on fire, turning Delhi’s air toxic. Amid a retreating monsoon, north-westerly winds carrying plumes of smoke from farm fires far away flow slowly towards the Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) where toxic pollutants are trapped in the cold winter weather, forming a ‘gas chamber’.
While road traffic and industrial pollution are year-round sources of the smog—a culmination of stubble burning and changing weather patterns are at the heart of the tragedy that seals New Delhi’s fate. Over 71 million people in Delhi-NCR are exposed for several weeks to severely unhealthy levels of air quality. Millions more are affected in adjoining states of North India. Most residents are known to develop a cough and face irritation in the eyes. More serious patients land up in emergency rooms complaining of respiratory constraints and heart issues.
The crisis has sparked a political blame game between the governments of AAP-ruled Punjab and Delhi on one side and BJP-ruled Haryana and the Centre on the other even as the people of Delhi suffer an urgent health crisis. Instead of treating the crisis as a foremost public health issue, state administrations have struggled to curb the menace with varying success.
A comparison between Punjab and Haryana is rather lopsided. While Haryana has managed to curb 38% of stubble burning incidents, Punjab’s initial gains are rapidly coming undone with farm fires back on the rise in November. While Haryana accounts for only 5% of total fire incidents this season, Punjab accounts for 65%.
Despite having AAP governments in New Delhi and in Punjab, the two states have failed in coordination and taking sweeping action against stubble burning.