-Scroll.in Some farmers in punjab and Haryana are moving away from burning the crop stubble, using it to make mulch instead. A week after Diwali, the smog over Delhi hadn’t lifted. The air was more toxic than any other city in the world. Wearing masks and holding up banners that said “We are not Hiroshima”, about 200 Delhi residents gathered at Jantar Mantar on November 6, demanding clean air. Waking up abruptly to...

-The Indian Express The poor adoption of a machine that can help avoid paddy stubble burning is an example of policy failure. Jalandhar/ Ludhiana: There is virtual unanimity — at least among scientists and aware farmers — that the ultimate solution to the recurrent problem of paddy stubble burning at this time of the year lies in the ‘Happy Seeder’ developed by the punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in 2002. But more than...

-The Hindu Paddy stubble, unlike wheat residue, isn’t valuable animal feed. Incentivising biomass-based power plants in punjab and Haryana will help north India breathe easier. Delhi has registered its worst air quality in recent times. This has prompted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to call it a “gas chamber”. Pollution in different parts of the capital has touched hazardous levels with potentially serious health effects on the rich and poor alike, especially on...

-The Indian Express It will also promote indigenous research and science, incentivise pulses production, rationalise pricing. The inferno of environmental pollution that the nation’s capital and its surroundings have been witnessing has many causes, including weather conditions (thermal inversion) that facilitate the settling of particulate matter and other pollution, dust on the streets generated in part from construction activity, and vehicle-related emissions. Particularly critical is the burning of paddy after the kharif...

Delhi's air is not fit to inhale. Experts argue that prolonged exposure to toxic air could lead to serious health hazards like heart and lung diseases, various types of cancer etc. But is it the case that the smog, which engulfed the entire National Capital Region (NCR) and many of the north Indian cities during October-November was entirely caused due to burning of firecrackers in Diwali or because of vehicular...