Every year in the month of October and November Delhi NCR and areas surrounding Punjab experiences smog, or a fog which is majorly smoke.
The Delhi government has been trying various "Tricks" to contain and bring down the effect by introducing not so citizen friendly initiatives like Odd- Even , heavy fines on BS4 vehicles, reduction of diesel fuel vehicles validity etc.
All this while the only relevant question is forgotten, i.e., why the same amount of vehicles don't cause smog in even colder months ? A casual hint about stubble burning is tossed but nothing is done to legally stop it as much legality and cane dangling is done for the Diwali crackers.
Irrespective of the absence of concrete emidsion data it is a known fact that this phenomenon is caused by stubble burning as it directly contributes to smoke in the smog equation.
Last week while discussing the problem with an ex colleague I wondered how much of the smoke is actually generated and is there a way to actually determine the role it has on the smog issue.
This thought process took me to the Arial imagery but since not many people can discriminate between smoke and clouds in the satellite images, I decided to look for infra emission layers as they are very reliable markers of above average heat and fires.
To my amazement the resultant visualisation closely followed the smog phenomenon, proving beyond doubt that the Odd-even restrictions are merely punishing the victim. The solution can't even start to formulate until the central government makes burning of stubble illegal since carbon emission is responsibllity of the country, thankfully no global environment agency has pointed a fingure at this yet.
Attached are the images with the high infra radiance layers (Shown as orange spots) drwan over Delhi, Haryana and Punjab for 8th September 2023, 8th October 2023and 8th November 2023.
It is very clear that the amount of radiation closely follows the amount of smog and the air quality index.
Image : 8th September 2023
Image : 8th October 2023
Image 9th October 2023 evening.
In light of these findings it's very clear that odd even can't solve this problem at all. It is upto the people of Delhi NCR, and the areas this phenomenon causes unbearable living conditions, to approach the government / legal system so that this indirect violence and torture is addressed for good.
#smog #Delhi #stubble #pollution
