New Delhi: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar had to miss a climate change conference and another event in Ludhiana on Tuesday (November 12) as his aircraft failed to land at Halwara airport due to “poor visibility.”
According to reports, the city was engulfed in a thick blanket of smog with several residents complaining of breathing issues and discomfort.
Ludhiana deputy commissioner Jitendra Jorwal claimed that the VP’s aircraft could not make a landing in Halwara due to “foggy conditions”. However, authorities at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) said that “smog accompanied by hazy sunshine” had led to the poor visibility conditions.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu said it was “big shame” and a “bigger irony” that Dhankar failed to attend a programme on climate change “due to smog and air pollution”.
The air quality in many parts of Punjab and Haryana have taken a hit. The AQI in Ludhiana was 209 at 4 pm on Tuesday and rose to 223 fours hours later.
The rise in air pollution in northern states during this time of the year is often attributed to stubble burning. From September 15-November 11 this year, Punjab recorded a total of 7,029 stubble burning incidents, as per the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre data. These figures are much lower than over 24,0000 incidents recorded last year in the corresponding period, the Indian Express reported.
Dhankhar had flown to Ludhiana to attend the ‘International Conference 2024: Transforming Agrifood Systems in Face of Climate Changes and Energy Transitions’ at PAU as chief guest. He was also supposed to attend the 32nd edition of Sat Paul Mittal National Awards.
KK Gill, the principal agro-meteorologist at PAU told the Indian Express that “the polluting dust and aerosol particles” were hanging in the air since Diwali “leading to smog and hazy sunshine” conditions.
“The stubble burning is adding to the problem. Since the wind speed is also minimal, the pollutants including aerosols and dust particles are entangled in the air leading to smog and low visibility. These dust particles are from firecrackers and paddy straw burning both. Due to hazy conditions, sunshine is not reaching the earth’s surface. Low wind speed is aggravating the problem and the pollutants are not shifting. Foggy conditions require lower than normal temperatures but currently it is above normal and nights are warm. There might be little fog due to high moisture levels in the mornings, so it can be a mixture of both smog and fog which might have led to poor visibility. But the intense fogging happens only when temperatures fall in the night,” said Gill.
While blaming the AAP government for inaction and failing to curb air pollution in the state, Bittu said, “Nothing is going to change by arresting farmers or registering FIRs against them or by imposing fines on them (for burning stubble). The governments have to take some action.”
AAP MP and spokesperson Malvinder Kang accused Bittu of making controversial statements. “He is contradicting his own government and Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s statement that stubble burning cases in Punjab have reduced by 70% this season. The BJP should decide if their agriculture minister is right or Bittu. Centre has recently rejected our proposal to provide Rs 1,200 crore financial assistance to stop stubble burning. We are doing everything possible to stop stubble burning with the resources we have,” said Kang.
