Open House: As Jalandhar’s air quality dips, shouldn’t govt check vehicular pollution, air quality monitors?

Certainly the government should review the existing air quality monitors and vehicular pollution to prevent environment crisis in peak winters. The government should immediately start taking remedial steps for this purpose. First of all the government should ensure successful stop on stubble burning by farmers. Secondly, in order to check vehicular pollution, the govt should ensure daily checking of commuters plying on roads to show pollution certificates of their vehicles and take action against defaulters. Last, but not the least, all problems relating to air quality will be resolved if the govt follows single step of planting more and more trees across all city.

Sanjay Chawla

Residents hold awareness campaign

On last Monday the city received brief showers, which reduced air pollution and enhanced the worsening air quality index. A very few people are aware of the importance of air quality we breathe. Although there is hardly any industrial pollution, smoggy conditions prevailing in the country side on account of the rise in the number of farm fires. Stubble is deemed useless by farmers and hence, they burn it to avoid the cost and manpower required to effectively remove stubble. In cities, frequent traffic jams and the resulting pollution on account of slow speed, cause avoidable crisis. A few days ago, there was a demonstration on Bhandari Bridge. The police, thoughtlessly, diverted the traffic from the interstate bus terminal to the Old Sabzi Mandi open space which is the most polluted spot of the city and the captivated bikers and e-rickshaw passengers had to breathe the foulest air for more than an hour. In the absence of enforcement of laws regarding environment, farmers demand more and more compensation for not burning paddy stubble. No palpable concern is seen about this most fundamental requirement for living. You can see beggars setting rubber tyres on fire and basking in the heat during extreme cold. I think residents should form groups to monitor the situation and enlighten all stakeholders and invoke the relevant laws. Regular information about the AQI should be put online and religious places roped in to educate audience in their discourses. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the people. Fortunately, after the recent resurfacing of local roads, traffic is comparatively more streamlined and we should hope for a smogless winter.

Prof Mohan Singh

Burst eco-friendly crackers in festivals

Global warming, climate change, cloud burst have brought unexpected rains in number of western countries and even in India. Excess rains in western countries have triggered massive landslides and flash floods, causing the closure of several roads. Winter has started just now and snowfall in the hilly areas and rain has brought down the temperature. As the government is strictly against the stubble burning even then we have to educate the farmers about the disadvantage of it. The government is giving financial assistance to the farmers to refrain from farm fires. At present e-rickshaws, cars and other electric vehicles are eco-friendly and not polluting the environment. As the winter season is about to set in and most of the diseases like bronchitis, asthma cannot be ruled out in coming days. Polluted environment is always harmful to the allergic patients. As the festival of lights Diwali and Dussehara are to be celebrated with great pomp and show, we should refrain from burning crackers in large number and try to be burn eco-friendly crackers to keep pollution under control. Air pollution is one of the greatest environmental risk to health and by reducing air pollution levels we can reduce the burden of disease from stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma.

Rajat Kumar Mohindru

Take steps to reduce vehicular pollution

It’s a serious matter, and many think that the government should step in to prevent environmental crisis. One effective way to tackle this issue is by reviewing the existing air quality monitors and make sure there are proper rules and regulations on vehicular pollution. By ensuring that air quality monitors are up-to-date, we can have a better understanding of the pollution levels and take necessary actions. In addition to this, strict regulations on vehicular pollution can help to improve the air quality. It’s crucial for the government to prioritise the environment and our health by taking necessary measures so that every citizen do not face problems from air pollution.

Karanjot Singh

Impose fine for causing pollution

The alarming rise in the number of stubble-burning incidents and registration of new vehicles in the past two years demands urgent attention from the state government to review its strategy to prevent further environmental degradation and smoggy conditions during the forthcoming winter season. Till October 9, the state has reported 1,027 cases of stubble burning, compared to 614 in 2021. Similarly, the total registered vehicles in the state have also increased from 1.27 crore by the end of March 2021 to 1.32 crore on March 31, 2022. However, to address the issue the Punjab Government has implemented various measures including setting up continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations in six cities, banning stubble burning, promoting in-situ and ex-situ management of crop residue through farm machinery and bio-decomposer solutions, implementing the graded response action plan for emergencies, and launching public awareness campaigns. The government has also taken several initiatives to reduce vehicular pollution in the state, such as providing subsidies for electric vehicles, installing electric vehicle charging stations, retrofitting old buses with CNG kits, introducing intelligent transportation systems and encouraging public transport and non-motorised modes of transport. Besides all these, the government needs to take strict action to combat the issue, such as halting all benefits of its various welfare schemes to the farmers engaged in stubble burning, imposing hefty fines on owners of polluting vehicles, especially those owned by the various state government departments, scrapping the unfit polluting vehicles, and coordinating with the neighbouring states and the Central government.

Dr Kulwant Singh Phull

Keep earth clean and green

Air quality index starts deteriorating as the winter steps in. In most of the big cities, including NCR Delhi, it has already gone up noticeably, which is a cause of worry for residents and the environmentalists too. Last year, the situation turned so bad that the government had to shut schools while a ban on plying diesel vehicles was announced as safeguards against a spurt in respiratory complications. The problem of garbage disposal remains unaddressed in so many towns and the efforts to introduce mechanical ways in place of manual scavenging have not been wholly effective due to stiff opposition from safai karamcharis. Health authorities have failed to maintain desired cleanliness as there is a colossal increase in domestic waste while households are not seriously engaged in segregation of garbage into solid and wet content for easier disposal. Crop stubble burning continues unabated. The subsidies and incentives provided by the government have not brought about a shift towards alternative uses of crop stubble. The subsidies being offered do not adequately cover the additional costs for fuel and electricity that have to be borne by farmers, as well as the cost of additional machinery. The industrial entrepreneurs are yet to be sensitised to earn incentives like carbon credits, etc. by adopting innovative ideas to check industrial pollution. The Sanitary Department is very careless in conducting periodic spraying of disinfectants at vulnerable areas to prevent the outbreak of vector-borne diseases. The irony is that despite some efforts under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, there is tardy respite from the rising pollution. Much needed instructions come from NGT/PCB only when the conditions get worsened during the peak winter. To the utter dismay, the ban orders on bursting harmful crackers announced every year during Diwali festival are flouted recklessly but no action is taken. Having said that, we lack consistency in efforts to check alarming pollution as majority of our metros are categorised as most polluted cities in the world. Obviously, a definite strategy need to be devised to maintain clean & green environment, prohibiting toxic chemicals, unspecified chimneys and untreated flow of harmful effluents into water and air. In all, we have to be proactively vigilant against rising air pollution and take vital precautionary measures for climate protection, not only for ourselves but for the safety of future generations as well.

Nirmaljit Singh Chatrath

Industry should not be in residential area

The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs under its Smart City Mission declared Jalandhar to be developed as a Smart City. With the arrival of winter, the air quality of the province has started is deteriorating. The air quality index of Jalandhar is 332 which is scary. Many factors contribute to such a worsening situation. One of them is non-CNG vehicles emitting harmful gases in the environment making the current oxygen unbreathable and a living hell. Despite the ban on BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel vehicles in the state, many individuals remain unaware and continue to contribute to environmental hazards. Another massive reason for air contamination is burning dried hay, practised by the undereducated farmers of Punjab. This practice is not only harmful for the state but also to the national capital of India, Delhi. Many debates have been performed on the issue and learning campaigns for farmers have been organised but no good can be seen so far. To suggest a solution for the betterment of the air quality of the state, the government and the residents need to be reminded that industries should be set up away from residential areas, burning plastic and spoiled crops or any sort of hay should be banned and considered as a punishable offence. Also, masses must follow a proper recycling of leftovers with the help of municipal corporations of different districts. Pollution is a separate problem but keeping a proper check on it is crucial for prevention, so every vehicle running on the roads of Punjab must be checked by the Pollution Control Board of the state and offenders should be charged hefty fines. Additionally, the government should run checks for all the air pollution monitors to ensure that they do not malfunction and protect Punjab.

Lakshit Jindal

Keep a Check on stubble burning

Almost every year, with the advent of winter season coinciding with crop harvesting, air quality starts deteriorating, throwing a challenging task to maintain air quality index at satisfactory level. The primary reason is attributable to stubble burning by farmers, who are constantly ignoring all the administrative measures put in place to check the menace. It is highly disgusting that even incentives could not stop the farmers from putting the crop residue on fire and this unfortunate trend needs deep introspection by all the stakeholders responsible for ensuring clean and healthy environment in the society. The ongoing drinking water project leading to large scale digging for laying pipes in major parts of the city, without adequate dust control measures, is partly responsible for air quality being worsened in the city. However, air quality index is still better than the last corresponding period perhaps due to recent rain in the region. But nature’s generosity cannot be taken as granted and the administration must continue taking sustainable and strong measures to prevent air pollution beyond tolerable limits for sake of our future generations.

Jagdish Chander

Question for next week

With the MC going to polls in November, the city is riddled with civic problems such as potholed roads, garbage dumps, traffic congestion and poor water supply. Is this the legacy of sham that the MC will inherit even as new populist promises will be made to people in the coming elections?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to jalandhardesk@tribunemail.com by Thursday (October 19)