Smog: A transboundary issue and its implications in India and Pakistan

Abstract

Before 1986 farmers of North western Indian Punjab and eastern Pakistan use to harvest and plough fields manually. After crop harvesting, usual practice was to leave crop residues for 4-6 weeks to enhance nutrients for the next crop. With the rise of population, farmers have to leave manual practices and adopted mechanized harvesting from 1986 to meet food demands. Although this practice benefited a lot but compromised air quality in the region (Gadde et.al 2009). Open residue burning is a common practice in many areas of the world including China, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Indonesia etc. (Lohan et.al 2017). Every year in October to November farmers burns crop residues after harvesting which results in poor air quality in the region of Punjab. Since this burned smoke stays for almost 3 weeks therefore it deteriorates air quality of Punjab. Seasonal meteorological conditions cause this smoke (resulting from crop burning) to cover whole Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) from west to east (Badarinath et al., 2009; Mishra and Shibata, 2012). Ai J. Haagen-Smit’s (1970) defined smog as photochemical oxidation of organic materials originating with the petroleum industry and automobiles. According to Ritesh Gautam (2014) main sources of smog that affects Indo-Gangetic Plain are carbon (organic, black), dust, nitrates, sulfates, forest fires automobiles, power plants (coal based) and industries in the region.