As the stubble burning began in Haryana and Punjab, the acrid smoke drifting towards New Delhi is turning the national capital's air toxic once again.?
On Sunday, the air quality in Delhi was at 336, which is categorised as very poor. With the wind conditions not favorable, the quality is predicted to drop further in the coming days.
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Every November, air pollution in northern India reaches levels unimaginable in most parts of the world, forcing schools shut and filling hospital wards with wheezing patients.
As winter descends, cooler air traps car fumes, factory emissions and construction dust close to the ground, fomenting a toxic brew of harmful pollutants that regularly exceed 30 times the World Health Organisation's safe limit.
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While it is easy to blame stubble burning, the farmers say they don't have an alternative to ready their fields for next season¡¯s wheat crop.
¡°We have no other choice but to burn the straw,¡± Harpal Singh, a farmer in Ishargarh, a village in Haryana told AFP.
¡°We know the smoke pollutes the air. But it is the cheapest and easiest way to get rid of the (crop) residue,¡± the 65-year-old farmer told AFP.
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Efforts to persuade farmers, many living below the poverty line, to adopt alternative methods of land clearance have fallen on deaf ears.
Many have balked at suggestions of buying ¡°Happy Seeders¡± -- expensive machines which according to media reports cost at least 150,000 rupees -- that sow wheat without needing to dispose of the leftover straw.
As the pollution levels spike there is an increase in number of cases where people have been complaining about respiratory issues.?
The WHO in May listed 14 Indian cities in the world¡¯s top 15 with the dirtiest air, with Delhi dubbed the most polluted major centre.