Cracker Ban during Diwali – Is it even scientific?
Diwali, a joyous affair in general, has become a festival of dampening the moods of Hindus, especially children, in recent years owing to the continuous attempts to vilify bursting crackers. The most joyous part of Diwali is crackers regardless of age and bursting them is followed as a ritual even by the great saints. Vilifying crackers has brought a debate on whether or not bursting them is mandated in the scriptures and inane comparisons like equating it with Sati. Getting tangled in the sentimental arguments of those who oppose crackers; the scientific temper, which those who in general oppose Hindu traditions so like to take ‘refuge’ in, got buried in the accusation-response kind of one sided conversations.
Before taking to Shastras to prove that bursting crackers on Diwali is or isn’t mandated, one must look at the need to think about why the question of not bursting them arises. CPCB, the government body, NGT, the tribunal of former judges and the Supreme Court cite pollution as the reason for banning crackers. Shouldn’t we ask for the proof then? Many have shown air quality index reports suggesting air pollution sky rocketed on diwali day. How was it deduced that pollution went high on that particular day? By comparing the index on diwali with that few other days, 2 or 3 days at maximum. To the gullible, it might look as if crackers really caused pollution. Some might have even given up bursting crackers after seeing such reports. But science doesn’t work that way. Fraudsters do.
Hyping of air pollution appears to be a trick played on the Indian masses by the air purifier lobby. However as it demands a separate discussion, the scientific background of air pollution, particularly in the Delhi-NCR region researched by prestigious institutes will be discussed here. The research report of IIT Kanpur on air pollution in Delhi brings forward the major sources of pollution in summer as ‘soil and road dust, fly ash re-suspension, concrete batching and MSW burning’ and winter as ‘combustion sources, vehicles, biomass burning and MSW burning’ during the winter. Nowhere do the firecrackers figure.
One of the reasons for the high amount of pollution in and around Delhi is its landlocked nature. The Indo-Gangetic Plain is landlocked on all four directions and accommodates the largest number of brick kilns. These use the old method of combustion technology using coal and biomass which is one of the main culprits of pollution. It doesn’t help that states like West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh have a large number of coal mines and thermal power plants situated near them. Again Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, part of the Gangetic plain also operate large power plants. A landlocked mass of land with power plants emitting fly ash all around ensures that PM10 particles settle in the fog during the winter and raise the pollution to alarming levels.
Even though the main sources contributing to pollution differ in summer and winter, the report titled Comprehensive Study on Air Pollution and Green House Gases (GHGs) in Delhi result of the research conducted by IIT Kanpur in 2016, names secondary particles and combustion related carbons accounting for 45% and MSW for 4-10% of PM10. Likewise, the same sources contribute 51% and 7% respectively to PM2.5 concentration. For both types of particulate matters in the air, the report defines the top four contributors as road dust, industrial point sources and vehicles based on annual data.
While talking about the study in Delhi Technical University, Rohini in the winter of 2013, it is mentioned that both SO2 and NO2 levels were high on Diwali day. DG sets, local burning and traffic jams are explained as the reason for the occasional spiking of NO2 level. But PM10 and PM2.5 that were 894 µg m3 and 655 µg m3 respectively fell below 400 µg m3 on the day after Diwali and rose to the same levels on the second day. PM10 went above 1000 µg m3 on the 23rd of the month. Which begs the question of whether crackers really were the cause of pollution to fall till the 19th of November and its drastic rise 20 days after Diwali. And it must be noted that PM2.5 levels were above the mean only a few times during the same month.
Data collected from Envirotech, Okhla shows that PM10 in the air touched 1200 µg m3 on Diwali day. But curiously here also it fell far below the mean level the next day itself but rose above Diwali day pollution 2 days later. It is to be noted that in April PM10 levels touched 1000 µg m3 on two occasions and above 900 µg m3 on one occasion when no firecrackers would have been burst in the vicinity. Only SO2 levels were out of the ordinary on Diwali day.
For both places, the report skipped the data collected during November 3-5 during which the effects of firecrackers are said to be present in the air. Based on the data available for Delhi Technical University, the report infers that, ‘The biomass burning has a major contribution (29% for PM10 and 35% for PM2.5%) to the PM levels at Rohini. Biomass burning is prohibited in Delhi and not a common practice at a large scale. In all likelihood the biomass PM is contributed from CRB prevalent in Punjab and Haryana during this time of the year. The back trajectory analyses also suggest that the CRB and other biomass emissions may be transported to Delhi from the states of Punjab and Haryana.’
Similar observations are made about Okhla where the pollution is higher than that of Rohini. The report says ‘Most of the time wind is from NW and wind mass travels over Punjab and Haryana States before entering Delhi. These winds pick up the pollutants on the way especially from large (e.g.crop residue burning (CRB)) and tall emitting sources.’
Aerosol and Air Quality Research (AAQR), an international journal under the Taiwan Association for Aerosol Research has published a research paper in 2018, Agricultural Burning and Air Quality over Northern India: A Synergistic Analysis using NASA’s A-train Satellite Data and Ground Measurements, that analyses solely about the effects of crop burning on Delhi air pollution. The analysis is done using NASA’s A-train satellite data and ground level PM2.5 measured during the period of 2013-16. It observes that since mechanised farming was normalised, burning the crop residue has been on the rise and ‘the data retrieved from the National Biomass Resource Assessment (NBRA) Programme indicates that about 21 Tg and 10 Tg, that is 46% and 37% of the total rice straw produced in the field, is surplus and subject to open field burning in the states of Punjab and Haryana, respectively’.
Various research papers have found that as a result of crop residue burning during October- November monsoon season, ‘concentrations of particulate matter (up to 400 µg m3, predominantly composed of organic carbon) and harmful gases such as NO2, SO2, and CH4 spiked to alarming levels. In an in-depth analysis, this measures the fires on the plains and correlates them to the consequent rise in pollution levels in the US embassy in Delhi. They have used multiple datasets consisting of ground measurements, satellite retrievals, and back-trajectory data to investigate the link between crop residue burning and air quality in North India. And the result shows how stark the reality is.
The above research was done for the period of 2013-2016. IITK report was also prepared based on data available for 2013. From the data available on government websites, we come to know that during 2002–2016, the post-monsoon rice crop production in Punjab has increased by 25%. Another case study published in Nature.Com observes that ‘NASA’s A-train satellite sensors detect a consistent increase in the vegetation index (net 21%) and post-harvest agricultural fire activity (net ~60%) leading to nearly 43% increase in aerosol loading’
The Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009, is also connected to the difference in the pattern of sowing, harvest and residue burning. This act was brought into force to delay the sowing to save groundwater resources by scheduling the rice-growing season with the summer-monsoon cycle. This contributed to crop residue burning in late October and November causing particle matter to stay in the fog during winter. This study which used satellite data from 2002-2016 and ground measurements concluded that not only Delhi and NCR region but the whole breadth of Indo Gangetic Plain is affected by the pollution caused through crop residue burning.
Now let us see what the National Green Tribunal, which has sent out a circular asking why crackers shouldn’t be banned during Diwali, has taken into consideration. None of the researches pertaining to pollution in Delhi-NCR have found firecrackers as a major source of pollution. Neither has the NGT listed it as a main source of air pollution choking Delhi. Then why would the organisation suggest banning crackers that don’t figure in the picture at all? The Hindu practice is actually a casualty of the westernised style of governance and lifestyle of people in general. No one wants to give up their posh bungalows and apartments, the luxury of travelling in cars, or 24/7 electricity for that matter which are found to be the major causes of pollution in Delhi. So it’s easy for them to snatch the joy of a child on a festival celebrated across the nation, and the livelihood of a poor Sivakasi family that toils in the chemicals for nearly 10 months of a year.
The loss of livelihood of a poor Hindu living in Sivakasi doesn’t affect them directly unlike the power outage or a restriction in using vehicles. They do not care to know the exact cause of ills they face lest it opens their eyes to the damage they are inflicting upon society and the environment. It is this uncaring nature that has crept into the society which is turning out to be the root of the degradation of Sanatana Dharma. That the government at present ably aids it only shows the gallery to which it plays unlike it claims to. The government’s courage in tackling (or not tackling) the real enemy, crop residue burning, has also exposed its so-called commitment to Vikas, be it any party.
Neither the NGT nor the government found any wrong when political party cadres burst crackers on election victory. Now NGT has gone further to not ban crackers completely on Christmas and New Year – when it is certainly not religiously mandated unlike in the case of Diwali. If crackers are indeed so polluting, why allow them to be burst on these days when bursting crackers is certainly not a mandated practice, let alone an ‘essential practice’. Another thing to be noted is that the ban started well before Diwali and extended well beyond – from November 9th to November 30th. Hopefully, the three toddlers on whose behalf their parents filed a PIL asking for a blanket ban on firecrackers will sleep soundly in the upcoming days, especially on the night of Christmas and New Year.
References:
- http://environment.delhigovt.nic.in/wps/wcm/connect/735190804acf830c8eec8f09c683c810/Final%2BReport09Jan2016.pdf
- https://www.ceew.in/sites/default/files/CEEW_What_is_Polluting_Delhi_Air_Issue_Brief_PDF_12Apr19.pdf
- https://aaqr.org/articles/aaqr-17-12-2017aac-0583
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-52799-x
