E-Paper
Haryana’s AQI plunges as farm fires increase, Covid-19 patients may face higher risks
The number of active fire locations (AFL) in Haryana had increased to 621 by October 7.
An increasing number of farm fires in Haryana is now affecting the air quality in many parts of the state with the Air Quality Index (AQI) in many cities of the state turning poor.
According to the central pollution control board, the AQI in several cities of Haryana including Faridabad (212), Charkhi Dadri (275) Dharuhera (229) Jind (202), Kurukshetra (203) Panipat (213) and Yamunanagar (275) was categorized as poor on Thursday afternoon.
Even, Charkhi Dadri has very poor air quality as the AQI was measured at 351.
Last month, the AQI in almost all the cities of the state was in ‘satisfactory’ and ‘moderate’ categories and it started worsening soon after the harvesting started after September 20.
Officials in the health department said the poor air quality could increase the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and there is a need to put a check on the stubble burning before the AQI deteriorates further.
“The stubble burning is increasing pollutants and it may affect the respiratory conditions of the Covid19 infected persons. Moreover the poisonous gasses emitted from the stubble burning are very dangerous for human health, thus the stubble burning may cause severe problems for Covid-19 patients”, said Dr Shailnder Mamgai, superintendent of LNJP government hospital Kurukshetra.
The number of active fire locations (AFL) in the state had increased to 621 by October 7 after the state reported around 95 incidents of fires in 24 hours.
Officials in the state pollution control board say the government needs to focus on the districts of Kurukshetra, Karnal, Kaithal, Ambala and Fatehabad as 464 or 75 per cent of total AFLs were reported.
Since, the incidents of AFLs were two and half time more than the last year, Haryana chief secretary Vijai Vardhan has directed the Deputy Commissioners to achieve the goal of zero burning of stubble in the state and also directed them to ensure the availability of crop residue management machinery to small and marginal farmers on a priority basis.
The state government has also announced that it will provide cash awards to the Panchayats falling under red zone, for making efforts to curb stubble burning.
