New Delhi, which was notorious for being among the worst cities in the world, when it comes to air quality has been enjoying some of the cleanest air on record for the past few months, thanks to COVID-19 and lockdown.
It is soon likely to change as farmers in Punjab and Haryana have already started burning the stubble, which is one of the major causes of Delhi's air turning toxic every year, in winters.
But this year, experts have warned that stubble burning can exacerbate the coronavirus crisis.
¡°If alternate arrangements to stubble burning are not made, pollutants like particulate matters and toxic gases like Carbon Monoxide and Methane could give rise to severe respiratory problems, which will further worsen the COVID 19 situation, as the Coronavirus also impacts the respiratory tract," Sanjeev Nagpal, also an advisor to the Union and the Punjab governments on the crop residue management, told PTI.
Dr Akshay Budhraja, Consultant in Department of Pulmonology, Aakash Healthcare Super Specialty Hospital, said air pollution poses a serious threat to people suffering from chronic bronchitis and inflammation of lungs and such patients are more prone to COVID-19.
The severity is more if they contract the viral disease, he said.
"Air pollution makes asthma worse. It will be a challenging time for us too, as it takes 10-12 hours to conduct a radiological examination and an RT-PCR test to determine whether it's a case of asthma flare-up or coronavirus," he said.
Dr Laxmikant Kaotekwar, Consultant, Pulmonology, Columbia Asia Hospital, Pune, said, "If there is a previous history of dust allergies, it points towards asthma flare-up."
"Asthma patients are more prone to COVID-19. Such people should get evaluated beforehand so they can keep their asthma under control."
Santosh Harish, a fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, said pollution levels will be relatively lower this year due to subdued economic activity.
"However, air pollution exposure is likely to increase vulnerability to COVID-19 and the severity of the infection."
"It is a matter of serious concern. We are going to witness very high levels of pollution soon and this is going to coincide with the time the COVID-19 cases will peak," he said.
High air pollution-level will aggravate the situation as it seriously compromises the respiratory system and the immune system. There will be serious complications among COVID-19 patients, said Sunil Dahia, an analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
Last year's stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana had contributed to 44 percent of the pollution in NCR Delhi, according to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the Ministry of Earth Science.
Stubble burning causes not only massive air pollution but also affects the soil health, which is already in a bad shape in Punjab.
The practice of stubble burning combined with excessive use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers over the years has resulted in the decrease of soluble silica, carbon and other essential nutrients in the soil.
Punjab alone produces over 55 metric tons of crop residues each year out of which over 40 per cent have been found surplus.