Environment

KEY POINTS

·         In its recent ruling, the SC has ordered that, across the nation, only ‘green firecrackers’, which are free of chemicals that emit certain toxic gases on combustion, will be allowed, and only between 8 pm to 10 pm.

·         Cracker-bursting on other festivals and weddings will also be restricted to the prescribed time-window.

·         Naturally, the ban will help, but only as a few short gasps, because it fails to consider the real issues.

Real issues

·         Stubble burning – Crop stubble burning in Haryana and Punjab adds considerably to NCR pollution over a longer period than crackers.

·         Since the costs of the mechanised alternative to stubble-burning are very high, famers find it cheaper to pay fines.

·         Road dust – It contributes 56% and 38% of Delhi’s PM10 and PM2.5 pollution, respectively.

·         Industries including power plants are responsible for over 50% of the NOx pollution.

·         Vehicle density – Increasing number of vehicles is one among the major reasons for Delhi’s air pollution.

·         Waste – While the capital has huge garbage fires in dumps, there has been no comprehensive solution for segregating and processing waste.

Solutions

·         Pave or cover the sides of the roads with grass that holds the soil together and stops the production of the dust.

·         Improve the quality and quantity of public transport.

·         Focus on transit oriented development to encourage people to use public transports.

·         Complete the peripheral highways around Delhi to lower the movement of trucks into the area.

·         Build a market for straw by finding out the alternate uses of stubble and encourage farmers with proper incentives to bring stubble for that purpose.

·         For example, properly cut stubble can be used to

1.       make bio-char or cellulosic ethanol

2.      burn in a power plant

3.    plant the next crop without tillage

Kindly review.