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After the withdrawal of monsoon, the weather starts changing in almost half of India and within a few days, mild cold is felt due to the winds coming from the north-west. The amount of polluting particles in the air increases during cold weather because they are unable to rise above the earth's surface.
Due to this the level of pollution starts increasing. These pollution particles include smoke from vehicles, smoke and dust from burning wood, peat or coal, and straw smoke.
For the last few days, news has been coming from Punjab that the process of burning stubble has started there. Since last decade, as air pollution has increased in North India and especially Delhi-NCR, the Central Government, Supreme Court and various anti-pollution agencies become active. First of all, as pollution increases in Delhi-NCR itself, the anti-pollution activities of the Delhi government also increase. Delhi government has made a grape system to control this. According to this, as the AQI increases i.e. the air quality becomes poor in Delhi-NCR, various restrictions are imposed in a phased manner. These include restrictions on construction work and industrial activities and a ban on entry of diesel vehicles from other states due to the implementation of the gas-tank system.
Experience so far shows that these measures do not prove effective. It is not hidden from anyone that efforts to stop stubble burning in states like Punjab, Haryana etc. are not being effective. The news of stubble burning in Punjab proves that the arrangements made to stop stubble burning are half-baked. The figures of how much straw has been burnt are available, but no one knows when success will be achieved in stopping it from burning. Perhaps this is why the Supreme Court recently said that measures to stop stubble burning are futile.
Overall, this time also there is no hope that stubble burning will be banned in Punjab and other states. Strict steps that should be taken by the governments to curb air pollution are not being taken due to the politics of blaming each other and the bureaucracy is also working only on a whim instead of taking the right decision at the right time. .
Illegal encroachments on roads and traffic jams due to them are common in other big cities of the country including Delhi-NCR. Apart from this, it is also common for industrial activities to be conducted in residential areas. The reason for this is that industrial areas have not been properly developed. The second problem is that no care is taken to control dust at construction sites. If the governments want, they can control the dust coming out from the construction sites as well as the roads, but they are not taking any concrete measures for this.
Governments and their agencies are also unable to curb unplanned industrial activities. They are also failing to stop burning of garbage.
The political will required to control pollution is not being demonstrated and hence the causes of poor air quality are not being addressed. Due to lack of awareness about air pollution in our country, only a small section of the society expresses concern about it. Generally, only environmentalists, urban experts and a few others are concerned about air pollution. That is why neither the leaders nor the bureaucrats care about them. Their lax behavior greatly increases the problem of air pollution. The ruling parties do not take strict action because they fear that if they do so they may have to face defeat in the elections. Because of this fear they do not allow the bureaucracy to work independently.
This is when study after study shows that air pollution is posing a serious threat to human health. It is important for governments to stop caring about vote banks when it comes to curbing air pollution. Still, they see everyone from farmers to businessmen as vote banks and do not take any concrete steps for this. Air pollution will be curbed only when the bitter pill is taken to remove the causes of pollution and the public is made aware. It is seen that whether farmers or other common people, they are worried about the problem of air pollution. They are neither interested in the fact that straw does not rot nor in the fact that tandoor, tandoor etc. should not be used.
Therefore, garbage keeps burning in winter and dust also keeps flying from roads and construction sites. Average people do not realize that air pollution is the deadliest thing for them. No matter how much concern the media, the Supreme Court and the national and international organizations that monitor pollution express about pollution, it does not make any difference to the common man. Average people do not even try to understand from the leaders of their area whether they are active in solving the causes of pollution or not. The result of this is that even the leaders do nothing to stop pollution.
They know that no matter how inactive they are regarding pollution, it will not make any difference to their political health. Governments have to understand that imposing various restrictions on air pollution will not solve the root causes of pollution. Pollution is not just a problem of the moon. This is a year-round issue. Pollution is more or less, but complete freedom from it has not been achieved. In such a situation, it can be faced only by adopting far-reaching politics. Pollution control should always be a matter of concern. Worrying about it for a few months a year isn't going to help. Since air pollution is not a state-specific issue, all governments have to come together and tackle it.
