The soaring levels of air pollution during the winter season is a serious problem with which India's capital city — Delhi — grapples every year. Even though there are a number of reasons that add to the capital woes like vehicles, industries, power plants, waste burning etc, yet, the politicians have umpteen times blamed the farmers of neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana for burning their crop residue. But the blame-game ain't the solution, stern action that guarantees a long-lasting solution was to be taken on the ground.
Taking serious note of the problem, the government last year decided to set up a commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and adjoining areas. The statutory authority — the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region (NCR) and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) — has been the sole authority with jurisdiction over matters such as air quality management.
Just a few days ago, as the pollution levels started increasing in the national capital, the CAQM immediately swung into action and issued statutory directions to strictly implement measures under the first stage of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
Even the Delhi government is not behind and has bolstered its fight against pollution by launching a month-long intensive anti-dust campaign. This apart, the city government has also announced a Winter Action Plan under which a range of actions, from setting up a war room in the Delhi Secretariat to forming 586 teams to monitor the implementation of this campaign, has been done.So is there a hope that Delhi this time will see more coordinated action to tackle the menace of air pollution?
Experts doubtful
The smoke that emanates from the burning of paddy stubble in the neighbouring states contributes to almost 15 per cent of air pollution in Delhi. Experts say that the farm fires are yet to begin in Punjab and Haryana and it is too early to predict anything.
"Farmers are yet to burn the crop residue. Moreover, the incessant rains in Delhi-NCR have already plummeted the air pollution levels. It will be too early to say that the city residents may get any kind of respite from the air pollution," said Avikal Somvanshi, Senior Programme Manager, Centre for Science and Environment.
He said the rains may soon stop and pollution levels may soar during the month's end. On the steps taken by the government, Somvanshi said,"I don't see any dramatic or drastic action taken by the government. Even the Delhi government's 15-point action plan is similar to previous years."
"The problem is that we get attentive only during the winter season when the pollution levels are at peak. The Graded Action Plan is an emergency plan but if we have to tackle the menace, we need to reduce the base pollution in Delhi by implementing the comprehensive action plan throughout the year," Somvanshi said."Delhi cannot control the pollution coming from neighbouring states but it can certainly reduce the base pollution that is generated within the city," the air pollution expert added.
Story of smog towers
After AQI levels escalated following the annual episode of stubble burning, the Supreme Court in 2020 instructed the Delhi government and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to erect two smog towers in the city.
The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) got on board, by submitting a proposal to the CPCB. The smog towers under testing mode were to be installed at Anand Viharand Connaught Place by April 2020 but due to the subsequent lockdowns, the deadline was flouted. Finally, two smog towers came up in 2021.
It was claimed that the towers can purify the air in a one-km radius around the structure, at a rate of around 1,000 cubic meters per second. Both towers, identical in shape and design, are functional since September 2021. So have the towers reduced pollution levels? India took the decision of installing smog towers following China’s footsteps, but experts say China is implementing strong pollution control rules across sectors, which India hasn’t.
“These smog towers, which were first-of-their-kind, were installed as a research project and initially we were not able to attain its full efficiency in 2021,” Dr Anwar Ali Khan, senior environmental engineer at the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, said.
He said that recently, IIT-Bombay has sent some recommendations on how to attain its full efficiency. "It was designed for 90 per cent filtration efficiency but we were able to get only 50-60 per cent efficiency during the peak pollution days, last year. Its efficiency depends upon several factors, including wind direction and wind speed," the senior official said.
When asked about the recommendations, Dr Anwar said, "There were some technical gaps that had to be filled in. Like the smog towers should not be used during excess moisture in the air. So whenever there is rain, we now stop it immediately."
“Secondly, we were told by the experts to maintain an absolute vacuum inside the tower which we were not doing initially. The whole corridor — the buffer zone — from filtration to fan-area should not have any bad air,” the official said.
He said that the smog tower can clean the air within 300-400 meters of its reach. "This winter season will be the litmus test for the tower and we will check its efficiency as we have adopted the measures recommended by IIT-Bombay," Dr Anwar averred.
Costing around Rs 25 lakh, each tower is having 4,800 filters (1,200 filters in one direction) that are supposed to be changed every 3-4 months. The reason behind the high cost of filters is they are being imported from the US.
"Now we are planning to develop and manufacture these filters in India. IIT-Bombay is currently in talks with 3 vendors that will manufacture them in India. This will drastically reduce its cost," the official said. It has been predicted by IIT-Bombay that this year Delhi's smog tower will be able to achieve 80 per cent of its efficiency during the upcoming winter season.
Bad air from neighbours
Air pollution is hard to be mitigated since it is a multi-dimensional problem — industry, vehicular, biomass/waste burning, dust all contribute significantly, and each has its own political, regulatory, and technical challenges.
What always remains the talk of the town is the burning of paddy straw by the farmers of neighbouring states and a blame game begins. As per the experts, Punjab and Haryana alone generate 30 million tonnes of paddy straw every year, of which only a small fraction is used. But still, the stubble contributes at least 15 per cent to the city's total air pollution.
However, what is different this winter and giving hope to affected residents across the region is that instead of the annual inter-state political blame game, the Aam Aadmi Party-led governments, both in the states of Punjab and Delhi, can offer a coordinated solution to effectively tackle this problem. Last year, Punjab recorded 71,296 incidents of farm fires while on 37,302 sites no farm fire was observed. District Ferozepur topped the list with 6288 incidents, followed by Ludhiana, Moga, Patiala, and Sangrur.
Solution for stubble?
Rome was not built in a day and neither the stubble burning issue — which ultimately leads to the problem of air pollution — can be tackled in a short span of time. Mechanised farming — may be the first approach to tackle the problem and farmers can use a ‘Baler’ to clear their fields from the paddy straw.
The Baler is an implement used as a tractor attachment to convert crop residue like hay, flax straws, etc. into bales that are later used for various purposes such as feeding animals, haylage, etc. Baler makes the crop residue easier to store and transport. The price of baler in India ranges from Rs 4-80 lakhs.
To address air pollution and to subsidise machinery required for the management of crop residue, a Central Sector scheme on ‘Promotion of Agricultural Mechanisation for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi’ is being implemented from 2018-19.
Under this scheme financial assistance at 50 per cent of the cost of machinery is provided to the farmers for the purchase of identified crop residue management machinery.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is also promoting biomass co-firing for the recovery of energy that promotes the setting up of biomass pellets and briquettes manufacturing units. This apart, Pusa Decomposer Technology developed by ICAR - Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), is also being used by the farmers.
Major mitigation needed
Air pollution is hard to be mitigated since it is a multi-dimensional problem -- industry, vehicular, biomass/waste burning, dust all contribute significantly. Each has its own political, regulatory, and technical challenges
Stubble burning
Rain delay blues
Few quick fixes
Govt steps sufficient?
Smog towers
Have they helped curb pollution numbers?
India took the decision of installing smog towers following China’s footsteps. However, China implements strong pollution control rules across sectors, which India hasn’t