Delhi air pollution spikes to 100 times WHO health limit | Hacker News Reader

Delhi air pollution spikes to 100 times WHO health limit

theguardian.com

90 pointsasimpleusecase22 comments

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Farmers burning their fields, again.

Some of the reasons it's done (in many places) are discussed here:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Bush_burning_before_planti...

Alternatives are discussed here:

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/08/black-carbon-environm...

If only they could label the rice with with the province it was grown in, this problem would be easy to solve: Delhi consumers could just refuse to buy rice grown in Punjab.

It's one thing to read about it but it was such a nightmare to actually live in Delhi.

My eyes were constantly watery and some of my friends actually had trouble breathing.

Last I went there the Delhi govt was using fire brigades to sprinkle water on trees in an effort to reduce it.

Though my eyes had started burning within hours of landing. Maybe it was psychological.

I am so much happier having moved to another part of India. I guess I'm lucky that my job doesn't require me to stay in a fixed place but I feel really sorry for my friends who are going through this, especially as Diwali is coming and it's gonna get so much worse.

Where have you moved if i may ask?

> Maybe it was psychological.

I assure you it's not. My region of the world, previously covered in PMs of every size each winter, is weirdly clean this year.

The difference is palatable. As in, smog of this level normally leaves an actual aftertaste.

I also lived in Delhi for about 5 years before deciding it was too much and finally moved to Manali, I get paid about 1/5 of what I was making in Delhi but whatever!

It always was bad. Certain parts of the city you simply could not visit. You would constantly cough, some sort of nitrous compounds I think. The only time you could go out running was around 4am. Packs of wilds dogs ruled the streets during the early hours. Running with an ice axe made it safer...

I have an amusing image in my head of going into a shop in Delhi and asking for an ice axe.

National Institute of Mountaineering have plenty! Great place to go with an excellent outdoor climbing wall. Don't forget Himalayas and Kashmir are only a short plane hop away (best snowboarding in the world). New Delhi was an experience..

> he air quality index in the city hit 500 – the highest the measurement will go and 100 times the limit deemed to be healthy by the World Health Organisation (WHO)

From airnow.gov

    Daily AQI Color Levels of Concern Values of Index
    Green Good 0 to 50
    Yellow Moderate 51 to 100
    Orange Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups 101 to 150
    Red Unhealthy 151 to 200

So it is 10 times the recommendation

> Red Unhealthy 151 to 200

I love when these things have a "to".

My air quality app has further descriptions:

    2-300: very unhealthy 
    3-500: hazardous.

“Methods deployed by the AAP government to tackle pollution have included the sprinkling of water on roads to reduce dust and the building of two 80ft high “smog towers”, costing more than $2m each, that are supposed to clean the air but have been deemed by scientists to be largely ineffective.”

https://youtu.be/h6l1IK9QpSg?si=7kFf_3a1raiMB33r

Smog tower looks pretty small. I am not hopeful.

What do US farmers do with the plant stubbles? Just till them back into the soil?

That's what's done in Germany. Just plow it under

Yes although there is a growing movement towards “no till” farming where you just plant right on top of the old.

https://regenerationinternational.org/2018/06/24/no-till-far...

I wonder why Indian farmers don’t do this. Is it just a passed down practice that they follow? Are there any downsides to just tilling it under?

What’s the benefit of no till farming?

Tilling destroys the soil structure: fungal networks, plant roots, worms & their tunnels that provide aeration, etc. Mostly beneficial to plant growth.

But modern day farming doesn't work with nature. Instead prefers to start with 'clean' soil devoid of most of those critters. Including the beneficial ones. Tilling to loosen the soil, vs. letting the worms do it.

> Are there any downsides to just tilling it under?

Tilling is hard work & machinery to do it may not be available or affordable.

No tilling = remains of previous crop in the way. Or it may even regrow (partially?).

My guess: burning is simply an easy & quick way to remove those remnants. Not a smart way to farm, though.

I consider my respiratory system to be pretty healthy - I don't have breathing difficulties or sinusitis or any allergies - but it was so difficult visiting Delhi in February this year, which is not even the peak pollution month. I have no idea why some tech companies are still there.

> I have no idea why some tech companies are still there

They are all in the suburbs in gurgaon , not in delhi per se, and for a very interesting reason: Gurgaon was the first city in India which allowed women to work night shift as long as the companies could guarantee their safety. This caused a boom in call center business and also their infamous "company vans" business shuttling call center employees from their home to office 24x7.

Gurgaon had basically the same AQI as Delhi, if not worse on same days. Doesn't really answer their question.

Literally a dumpster fire.

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