WHAT POLLUTES INDIA?

Acknowledging the true impact and sources of our pollution crisis is the first step towards meaningful action

- Chandra Bhushan

Every winter, Delhi’s air pollution debate follows a familiar script. We look for villains, argue over blame, ignore science and solutions. This year has been no different — except that it has bordered on the absurd.

Pollution season opened with the Supreme Court allowing “green crackers,” followed by Delhi govt’s failed cloud-seeding attempt. Soon after came official data claiming a 90% reduction in stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana. Overnight, stubble burning was declared “nota problem.” Even though scientific evidence told a very different story.

A paper from ISRO and an independent analysis by my colleagues showed that stubble burning continued across Punjab, Haryana, UP, and MP, significantly contributing to pollution in Delhi-NCR. Real issue was not the absence of fires, but the failure of monitoring. Satellite passes over India in the early afternoon. As farmers simply shift the burning to late afternoon and evening, a large proportion of farm fires is no longer being detected.

Instead of fixing the monitoring system, we wasted weeks in the “tu quoque” debate — where stubble burning in Delhi's local sources were to blame. Incentives for farmers to not burn stubble were never implemented. Committees were formed, reports were written, and once again, we forgot to demand real solutions from all institutions accountable.

All this is particularly frustrating because the core causes of India’s air pollution crisis have been known for at least 25 years. In 1999, more than 200 scientists from across the world participated in the Indian Ocean Experiment, led by the renowned atmospheric scientist V. Ramanathan. This study identified massive clouds of “Asian Brown Clouds” stretching over the Indian subcontinent and the Indian Ocean from October to February.