How did the Smog take over?

Nirek sat working on his computers. His eyes moved over the parameters of the display area of the monitor and his hands coordinated on the keyboard and the mouse.



As Nirek picked up the bottle of water to take a sip, he looked out the window.



‘The sunlight has been blocked again today,’ thought Nirek



A notification appeared on Nirek’s phone from the news application which was about how the Union Territory Delhi, where Nirek lived, was being engulfed by this smog. The visibility had reduced to less than 150 metres and the schools and colleges had opted for online medium of education for the next six days. The aqi had crossed the 1000 level which the government was still reluctant to officially announce.



Along the news was a satellite image of the smog cloud which was visible very clearly from above.



So, what exactly is this smog? It is the result of high concentration of pollutants in the air to the point where its presence can be seen visibly and the visibility of the world around reduces.



Its presence also has adverse effects on health with many facing difficulty in breathing and headaches. Its effects are especially worse for those with pre-existing respiratory problems.



The next question is that did it happen suddenly? No, it did not, it has been happening for years and it is happening now.



The following question is, has the condition become better in any manner? With so many words being exchanged around the world on making the climate better, the environment more liveable, there surely has to be some initiative to make the situation better. I am afraid that is not what happened, in fact the opposite and there is a humorous part to it as well, it is the way the government dealt with the situation.



So, we come to our real question: how did the smog take over? This is Nirek’s version of how it happened-



“The primary reason always was the burning of the crop residue burning. It has been done for a long time and no particular attention has been paid to it until in recent years where it has resulted in this mixture of toxicity in the air.



After the harvest of rice, the farmers in order to clear the land for the next harvest, burn the remaining residue. The burning releases a large number of pollutants including PM2.5 and PM10.



Initially the government found a solution in the form of putting restrictions on movement vehicles trying to make people think controlling vehicular emission will be an effective measure. It was funny in a way because the majority of vehicles in the state run on CNG or compressed natural gas. It ended up causing inconvenience to some people and minimal change to the fog.



Construction activities were stopped as well. The weather was also held responsible as the transition to winters lead to the warm air trapping the cold air on the ground. However, the issue was that without dealing with the main issue which is the residue burning, things are definitely not getting any better.



I did hear of more environment friendly methods of disposing of the residue being discussed by the government and believed that things would definitely take a turn towards betterment, but I guess I was wrong. I am sitting in an environment filled with smog right now and I can’t go out. You can say life is a bit blurry right now.”
Written by Anuran Chatterji

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