Punjab: Blanket of haze in Malwa region

Punjab: According to the Department of Physics, Punjabi University, Patiala, the increase in incidents of farm fires and bursting of firecrackers on Diwali, along with low wind speed and a drop in temperature, has led to the formation of photochemical smog in the region. The Department of Climate Change and Agrometeorology of the university has said that the wind speed should be six to nine kilometres per hour (km/h) to remove pollution. However, the maximum wind speed during October was around 4 kilometres per hour on only two occasions. During the rest of the month, the maximum wind speed remained below 2 kilometres per hour.

Dr Karamjit Singh Dhaliwal, Principal Investigator of the ISRO-GBP ARFI Research Project and Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Punjabi University, said, “Such conditions do not allow for variation in night and day temperatures. As a result, the sun’s heat is not able to penetrate the earth’s surface, making evenings relatively warmer and the particulate matter in the air remains high, causing respiratory problems.” He said, “Apart from this, biomass pollutants, dust, vehicular pollution and pollution caused by bursting crackers also do not spread easily. This creates haze in the atmosphere and the sun rays are not able to reach the earth’s surface.” Pavaneet Kaur Kingra, head of the climate change department at PAU, said, “At present, the average wind speed across the state is less than 2 kmph. In such a situation, a closed room-like atmosphere is created, where the suspended particles remain locked in the atmosphere. In the summer season, the average wind speed is more than 15 kmph, which is enough to disperse these particles.”