You mechanise farming and use big harvesters which cut the crop 6 inches to 12 inches above the ground. Earlier sickles were used and the same stalks could be used as fodder or fuel. Now the labour costs are very high so we burn them on the fields . That causes two major issues- 1. Rise in fodder prices. 2. Smog So technological innovation is towards labour-reduction and increased productivity but it increases waste and pollution in ways we cannot even predict . We have to understand that there is no innovation without costs . There is nothing humans do without a cost-benefit and who pays the costs is usually not the one who benefits . So again we come to the main problem. Who manages and negotiates a fair balance for those who lose and those who gain ? How , and if it can be monetised ? Like throwing tribals out from their ancestral lands for mines . We in Delhi will suffer from the crop-residue burning . There is no NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) anymore . Everything is my front porch ! So continuing innovation that ruthlessly looks at better solutions and also an understanding that there is no urban-rural, tribal-modern . We all are connected seamlessly . Ecological Sustainability is now the only way ahead . Vikram Jaggi is a great doctor and is the son of Prof. (Dr.) O. P. Jaggi who was Director of Vallabhai Patel Chest Institute, New Delhi & Dean Faculty of Medical Science, Delhi University & Governor North India Chapter of the American College of Chest Physicians. They send a regular updates on allergies and asthma . I am not an asthmatic but have a tendency for chest infections and do use the rotohaler . I was thinking that one must go to a doc as was feeling breathing difficulty last two weeks . This mail today saved a doctors trip. Seems the Pollen counts are the highest in 4-5 years and smog due to the crop burnings in Punjab and Haryana . October-November is the beginning of the smog season in Delhi as farmers in Punjab and Haryana burn crop residue on fields as per the rice-wheat rotation system. However, the Agriculture Ministry has told the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the environmentally-harmful practice has intensified in the recent years. The last 30 to 40 days have been bad days ( bure din ) for most asthmatics in north India. Let us try to understand why this has been so and try to learn some lessons from it. Change of season, generally speaking, is a bad time for asthmatics. Many types of pollen and some types of fungal spores are more at the time of changing season. Kikkar or babul tree ( Prosopis julifora ) is one such example. More pollen means more asthma symptoms for pollen sensitized patients. Every 4-5 years there is a year when the pollen counts are exceptionally high. This year was one such year. Most patients suffered more this year. Patients of asthma somehow assume that “coldness “or low temperatures have a bad influence on asthma. This may be true for some asthmatics. Many asthmatics experience some aggravation of asthma on breathing of very cold air, as happens in running in the open on a very cold day. But it is also true that many asthma patients actually improve when visiting very cold countries like Canada or Sweden. So coldness, per se, is not the main culprit. Fog and Smog. These past few days have been very foggy. Does that aggravate asthma ? Yes it does. What’s the difference between fog and smog? To put things very simply : fog is a high concentration of water vapor near the ground. Or in other words, Fog is a cloud in contact with the ground. Smog is high concentration of pollution near the ground. Smog can come from man-made sources like traffic and factories. Fog is a function of weather. Fog is fog; smog is fog + smoke together. We all have read in the newspapers recently that burning of crops in Punjab and Haryana is contributing to the smog. What is really happening ? Earlier, crops were cut by hand and sickle. This was done very near to the ground and only a very small stalk was left. Now most of the crops are cut by machines which cut at a greater height above the ground and hence a longer stalk is left behind. The farmers later set these on fie before the next crop is sown. The smoke from this activity, which has very high particulate matter content, travels long distances and adversly affects the asthma patients. So what lessons can we learn from all this ? Be prepared. This will happen every year at this time. Be regular with your medication in anticipation. If required step up the dose. Restrict outdoor activities (morning walk) in these months between 5 to 10 AM. acac.in/ thehindu/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/ngt-for-measures-to-snuff-out-crop-residue-burning/article6588808.ece
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 06:58:04 +0000
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