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8. BURNING OF BIOMASS
for wheat cultivation being limited, the farmers choose to burn the residue right on the field as a cheaper alternative to hiring labour. Some states in India have taken preventive measures to discourage this practice such as banning crop residue burning, use of remote sensing technology and satellite imagery to detect occurrences of crop residue burning, and providing incentives to the farmers to avoid burning crops. This practice accompanied with the devastation of the Aravalli Range has led to increasing levels of air pollution in Delhi. The rapid and unplanned growth in population in Delhi and its neighbouring states has significantly increased the man-made air pollution with the unintended consequences of the urban sprawl and deforestation.
Burning of agricultural biomass residue, or crop residue burning is one of the major health hazards amongst all other factors. It not only exposes people to high levels of particulate matter concentration, in addition, it is also a major regional source of pollution, contributing between 12-60% of particulate matter concentration according to various source apportionment studies. 24 The main cause of crop residue burning is the very short window of time between harvesting of paddy and cultivation of wheat, at the end of the Kharif season i.e. July to October. With labour being unavailable due to mechanisation of farming practices and the time window for preparing the field
N
Indo-Gangetic Plains
CHINA
Burning of crops October– November 2018
PAKISTAN
NEPAL
Thar Desert
Delhi
Aravalli Range
INDIA
24 https://iasscore.in/current-affairs/mains/stubble-burning-in-northern-india
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