New Delhi, March 11: With the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) set to form the government in Punjab, can Delhi expect to breathe fresh air in the winters?
Will Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has all along blamed stubble burning in neighbouring Haryana and Punjab for the air pollution in the national capital, ensure that his party’s government does not let ‘parali’ (stubble) burning add to Delhi’s problem this winter? With a very small window available for the farmers in Punjab and Haryana between harvesting paddy and sowing of wheat, every year, the beginning of the winter season witnesses agro-waste burning in Haryana and Punjab, and the meteorological conditions bring that pollution towards Delhi. The situation worsens further as and when the cold/fog condition aids in stagnation of the pollutants.
Perception over the years has been that it is only the ‘parali’ burning in the fields of Punjab and Haryana which is responsible for Delhi’s air pollution, whereas science has established other sources of emissions too.
Aarti Khosla, Director, Climate Trends, an advocacy NGO working on the issue of air pollution and climate change, said: “If they (AAP government) really take it as a top priority, if they can really set up some kind of a governance mechanism for better coordination quickly, it will be a good possibility that can be explored.”
AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said, “As we have done in Delhi, we would push for bio-decomposters in Punjab. We would think of offering subsidy or give them for free to the farmers and also include machines such as happy seeders.” (IANS)
