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Context is everything.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
Detailed stories on technology startups, business and economic current affairs.
Stubble burning isn’t a Delhi problem—farmers face everything from respiratory disease to soil degradation, and there’s no easy way out
Editor's note: The fire crackles and hisses through the dry straw. Its flames, furious red ribbons of light, want to leap and fly. They do just for a moment, before the farmer takes cover, and spreads the straw to bring down the 4-feet-high flames to a more manageable level. The fire loses height but gains speed. It runs through the 3-acre farm inside 20 minutes and clears the soil of anything living. As it calms down, it leaves a layer of ash in its wake that covers the earth. Millions of tiny particles cling on to the farmer’s clothes. The fire also sends plumes of grey-black smoke in the sky that hang low in the air. With more such fires around the area, this cloud of smoke will slowly get thicker and gather momentum. It will travel with the westerly wind and, in a matter of days, envelope the northern plains of India and choke cities, most notably Delhi. As the temperature falls in North India and winter settles in, smoke from fields in neighbouring states such as Punjab, Haryana and western …
Stubble burning isn’t a Delhi problem—farmers face everything from respiratory disease to soil degradation, and there’s no easy way out
Editor's note: The fire crackles and hisses through the dry straw. Its flames, furious red ribbons of light, want to leap and fly. They do just for a moment, before the farmer takes cover, and spreads the straw to bring down the 4-feet-high flames to a more manageable level. The fire loses height but gains speed. It runs through the 3-acre farm inside 20 minutes and clears the soil of anything living. As it calms down, it leaves a layer of ash in its wake that covers the earth. Millions of tiny particles cling on to the farmer’s clothes. The fire also sends plumes of grey-black smoke in the sky that hang low in the air. With more such fires around the area, this cloud of smoke will slowly get thicker and gather momentum. It will travel with the westerly wind and, in a matter of days, envelope the northern plains of India and choke cities, most notably Delhi. As the temperature falls in North India and winter settles in, smoke from fields in neighbouring states such as Punjab, Haryana and western …
The Indian government is no longer denying pollution. Rather, it is perfecting a system that measures it extensively, displays it publicly and then teaches the nation to live with it.
A city choking on its own growth, trapped in a system with little accountability. Separately, India’s plan to ramp up in its solar manufacturing standards needs to factor in all the stakeholders.
The window to prevent the worst impacts of climate change has shut. The heat is on global leaders at the annual climate talks in Brazil to deliver more than just theatre.
The Indian government is no longer denying pollution. Rather, it is perfecting a system that measures it extensively, displays it publicly and then teaches the nation to live with it.
A city choking on its own growth, trapped in a system with little accountability. Separately, India’s plan to ramp up in its solar manufacturing standards needs to factor in all the stakeholders.
The window to prevent the worst impacts of climate change has shut. The heat is on global leaders at the annual climate talks in Brazil to deliver more than just theatre.
