Bathinda: After stubble burning in Bathinda, the air quality index (AQI) of the city recorded the ‘poor’ category on Thursday (November 2), morning. The local administration has appealed to the farmers to stop stubble burning. “The smoke of stubble spread in Bathinda, the air became poisonous, and the administration appealed to the distressed farmers not to burn the stubble. Today, a blanket of smoke from stubble was seen in the sky of Bathinda. The pollution increases so much in the morning that even walking becomes difficult. The local administration appealed to the Punjab government to stop burning stubble. Farmers also want to tell their brothers not to burn the stubble because this smoke will cause huge loss to everyone,” Lucky, a local resident said.
Also Read: Delhi’s Air Quality Remains ‘Very Poor’ For Fifth Straight Day
On Tuesday, a three-judge bench of the Supreme court headed by justice SK Kaul, directed the state governments to file affidavits stating steps taken by them to control air pollution.
The court directed the governments of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to file the affidavit within a week.
Earlier the Punjab government had listed out the steps that the state government has taken to improve air quality. The government said in a statement,
Timely distribution of machines, utilisation of machines lying idle, efforts to ensure maximum utilisation of stubble in various industries, various deterrence efforts, campaigns to promote various in-situ and ex-situ methods and appeals to farmers have shown significant efforts and ensured improved air quality for everyone.
Meanwhile, The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital was recorded at 336 on Wednesday morning bringing the air quality under the ‘very poor’ category for the fourth day in a row and the third straight day this week.
As per the SAFAR-India, the city’s AQI has been in the ‘very poor’ category since Sunday (309).
The AQI was recorded at 322 on Monday and 327 on Tuesday, as per the data provided by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)-India.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – theLGBTQ population,indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the currentCOVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water,SanitationandHygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fightmalnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health,adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues likeair pollution,waste management,plastic ban,manual scavengingand sanitation workers andmenstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India wheretoiletsare used andopen defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched byPrime Minister Narendra Modiin 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
