The whole year round, a study conducted by the Environment Science Department of the Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology has revealed that the increasing Air Pollution in Haryana has become a serious concern and the seasonal practice of crop residue burning is adding to pollution.
The pollutant peaks in the post-monsoon season October-December, followed by winters. PM10 and PM2.5 increased by around 65112% and 131147% in the post-monsoon season compared to monsoons, which are usually considered clean seasons in terms of air quality as atmospheric pollutants are washed out by the rain in the season, revealed the study.
The satellite-based fire counts and source apportionment shows a significant influence of crop residue burning in the post-monsoon season and solid burning (cow-dung cake, woods, etc.) during winters on Haryanas air quality. The particulate matter, which is usually considered as a proxy of air pollution, have annual mean PM10 concentration in Zones-1, 2, and 3 as 156, 174, and 143 \/per cubic meter air\/ (gm-3), whereas for PM2.5 as 71, 85, and 78g m-3, informed Prof Narsi Ram Bishnoi, one of the leading authors of the research paper from the GJUST said.