The atmosphere of New Delhi during
the months of October to the January next year
(every year) remains critical due to factors such as
stubble burning in the nearby state of Punjab, air
pollution rising out of Diwali fireworks and the
smog during December and January. Stubble
burning is the intentional incineration of paddy /
any other field stubbles by farmers after the
harvest. It is usually done to eliminate pests such
as rats, crickets and hoppers. The availability of
short time between rice harvesting and sowing of
wheat is the most important reason for burning of
crop residues. Also yield and quality of wheat gets
severely affected if there is delay in sowing. Since
the time gap is very limited (about 3 – 4 weeks)
between rice and wheat, burning of crop residues
is preferred since it is the quickest and easiest
solution for the farmers. According to reports,
New Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad recorded a peak
Air Quality Index (AQI) of around 480 – 490 in
the month of November 2019. Health effects of air
pollution include respiratory diseases, skin and
eye irritation and other ailments. An important
factor is shortage of labor contributing to burning
of rice straw. Apart from stubble burning,
farmers burn wood for domestic cooking, removal
of municipal solid wastes and accidental /
intentional wildfires. Use of combined harvester –
Happy Seeder machine is a profitable and less
labour-intensive management of rice residue. Yet
many farmers still have the perception that there
are no alternative solutions for crop residue
management. Besides Happy Seeder machine,
there are other machines such as rotavator,
reaper binder and no-till seed drill that can be
alternatives for crop residue burning. In 2019 –
20, the Punjab government disbursed a certain
amount to farmers for not burning stubble as
compensation, yet many farmers adopted the
stubble burning process. Other measures such as
adoption of villages by Confederation of Indian
Industries, MoU with institutes for wast
MITIGATION OF CROP RESIDUE BURNING INDUCED AIR POLLUTION IN NEW DELHI – A REVIEW
