Like clockwork, the media is filled with reports on how air pollution has skyrocketed a day after Diwali. Even though Delhi faces severe pollution for 3-4 months every winter caused by various man-made and natural reasons, the media and the activists have only one favourite event to blame for the same, the firecrackers burst on Diwali.

With the onset of winter and starting of stubble burning by farmers in neighbouring states, air quality in Delhi had already started to deteriorate, and the pollution further increased on Friday. The 24-hour average AQI for the city on Thursday was 382, up from 314 on Wednesday. The PM2.5 levels also reached very high levels in the national capital.

Such a situation was perfect for the leftist media to blame Diwali for the same, as NDTV claimed that “people paid the price for celebrating India’s biggest festival in the noisiest, and most smoky way”. Almost all media reports blamed people flouting the ban on firecrackers for the increased pollution. Even when the reports didn’t directly blame Diwali for increased pollution, they didn’t forget to mention that it happened a day after Diwali, suggesting the same.

NDTV blames Diwali for pollution in Delhi

NDTV blames Diwali for pollution in Delhi

However, even though the parameters say that Delhi’s air quality has deteriorated, attributing Diwali for the same is done by the media houses only, as the official air quality reports do not mention any source for the pollution. And, it is clear that the one-day festival was the perfect cover for the media to hide the real culprit of pollution, farmers burning stubble in the neighbouring states like Punjab and Haryana. There is no data to back the claim that air pollution increased in Delhi specifically due to Diwali firecrackers, and no such claim has been made in official weather reports by any agency.

However, even though the parameters say that Delhi’s air quality has deteriorated, attributing Diwali for the same is done by the media houses only, as the official air quality reports do not mention any source for the pollution. And, it is clear that the one-day festival was the perfect cover for the media to hide the real culprit of pollution, farmers burning stubble in the neighbouring states like Punjab and Haryana. There is no data to back the claim that air pollution increased in Delhi specifically due to Diwali firecrackers, and no such claim has been made in official weather reports by any agency.

In fact, a report by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) had already forecasted that due to winds coming from the northwest of Delhi, the amount of pollutants coming from the burning farmlands will go up significantly on Friday and Saturday. The SAFAR report had said that the share of stubble burning on Delhi’s air pollution will go up from 8% to 20% on Wednesday, and will go up to 35-45% on Friday and Saturday.

Satellite information also confirms that stubble burning has already reached its peak, which is the major reason for air pollution in the NCR region due to geographical location and weather patterns. According to the Fire Information for Resource Management System of NASA, the incident of fires in Punjab and Haryana have gone up significantly in the month of October, with it reaching its peak in the last week.

Social media users also have pointed out how the farmers burning their stubble are responsible for the pollution, not firecrackers.

NASA fire maps for north India on different dates in the last month

NASA uses red dots to indicate incidents of fire caught by satellites, and the maps for 31st October and 5th November show that almost the entire state is covered with red dots, which means that crop residues are being burnt at almost all the farmland in the state to clear the land for the next cultivation. Similarly, a large portion of Haryana is also covered with such red dots indicating fire.

There is also an indication that the farmers time stubble burning with Diwali, so that the pollution caused by them is blamed on firecrackers. When Swarajya Magazine editor Arihant Pawariya asked a farmer why they were burning stubble during Diwali, the farmer had replied that nobody will catch them as it is the time of the festivals.

Therefore, even if there was no bursting of firecrackers due to Diwali yesterday, Delhi’s air quality would not have been any better. Due to wind direction, the smoke from the stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana move towards Delhi, where it remains stationary due to the lack of wind movement in the region. Fog caused by lower temperate captures the pollutants in the air and keep them suspended in the air for a longer time, which creates toxic smog.

Fire Map NASA LANCE FIRMS firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa

Even the Supreme Court of India also have finally admitted that the firecracker issue is temporary, and the stubble burning problem is the main reason behind the air pollution in Delhi every year. But the leftist media continues to remain in denial of the issue, and continues to blame Diwali firecrackers for the problem year after year.

References:

opindia.com - Raju Das