As many as 53 per cent of Delhi-NCR residents believe stubble burning in neighbouring states is the “primary cause” of spiralling air pollution in the region, according to a survey.
The survey conducted by community social media platform LocalCircles is based on responses from 20,000 residents of Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, and Faridabad. 61 per cent respondents were men while 39 per cent were women.
Around 10,037 respondents identified stubble burning by farmers in adjoining states as the root cause of bad air quality in the national capital, it said.
Residents of Delhi-NCR woke up to a thick envelope of smog on Thursday as air quality in the national capital region dipped to the extreme end of the very poor quality. The air pollution levels, which were already disturbing before Diwali, have risen alarmingly over the past week as post-harvest stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh increases. The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital region on the morning of November 3 ranged from 500-800 in different parts of Delhi-NCR.
The data breakup from the LocalCircles survey shows that a much smaller percentage or 13 per cent believe the primary cause is “motor vehicle emissions”, while 7 per cent of the respondents blamed it on “garbage burning in the city”.
Around 7 per cent respondents held “industrial emissions” responsible and 7 per cent blamed “construction activity”, said the study.
When asked about the Odd-Even road space-rationing programme, around 10,547 of the respondents said they “don’t support” the scheme, the survey said.
“The data breakup shows 56 per cent of respondents do not support it while 38 per cent are willing to support this step to reduce pollution,” it said.
The fire data shows higher levels of farm fires between September 15 and October 31 in Punjab in 2022 as compared to 2021. In 2021, the total number of farm fires reported was 13,269 while the figure was 16,004 this year, and ground reports indicate a further pick-up in stubble burning in the past three days, the study points out.
Read all the Latest India News here
Comments
0 comment