Samrala, October 14
Why did vast areas in Punjab and Haryana plunge into darkness at noon for a while on October 12, forcing people to switch on their lights. Why did strange phenomenon occur shortly before the heavy downpour?
Experts say that the phenomenon was caused by the burning of paddy stubbles by farmers in recent days. Majority of farmers have been resorting to burning of paddy as well as wheat residue after its harvesting. As farmers put their paddy fields on fire. thick clouds of smoke start soaring upwards in the atmosphere.
Experts say that as the temperature came down and moisture increased in the atmosphere on October 12, smoke started settling down, thus causing a thick blanket below the overcast sky. Even, in normal days, visibility is reduced in the afternoon in various parts of this region these days because of the burning of fields. It makes driving very difficult in the countryside.
In 1999, a US satellite warned the Meteorological Department of the Union Government that a big aerosol of smoke and fog was hanging over Punjab and it was reported in The Tribune on September 26, last year. Only a few weeks ago, the United Nations Environment Programme ( UNEP) indicated that a vast blanket of pollution was stretching across South Asia, that is northwest India ( Punjab etc), Pakistan, Afghanistan and this story was covered by major newspapers.
However, these alarming happenings have not stopped farmers from burning paddy and wheat stubbles though they have been warned against doing so.
Wittingly or unwittingly they have been adding to the vast blanket which has been described by the UNEP as the “Asian brown cloud”. Emissions from the burnt straw of paddy contain 70 per cent of carbon dioxide, 0.66 per cent methane and 2.09 per cent nitrous oxide.
Such gases have a very long atmospheric life. Carbon dioxide takes over 100 years to disappear from the atmosphere, according to experts. Such aerosols reduce radiation by about 13 per cent and biomass productivity by about 15 per cent because of aerosol-radiation-temperature-carbon dioxide interactions. Punjab is producing about 15 million tonnes of paddy and 20 million tonnes of wheat residue. Most part of this is burnt.
Not only is the atmosphere polluted by the burning of residue top soil and the natural process of manuring the fields is damaged due to soiling of the paddy and wheat waste. Valuable nutrients available in the fields are also burnt in the process.
UNEP scientists say that the build-up of the haze, a mass of ash, acids, aerosols and other particulars, is disrupting the weather systems, including rainfall and wind patterns. And the haze phenomenon is set to intensify over the next 30 years. Its implications are dangerous for
agriculture.
