Stubble Burning in North-West India and its Impact on Health

Abstract

Burning of crop residues released many pollutants, resulting in serious health hazards. This paper is an attempt to explore status of crop residues burning in Northwest India and its consequences on health in general and on child health in particular. An effort has also been made to find out the correlation between stubble burning and increasing incidence of acute respiratory infection (ARI) among children in Punjab. Finally an inventory of suggestions to curb this evil has also been prepared. Based on secondary sources, the data collected from various published studies, reports and NFHS, the present study found that residue burning resulted in the emission of greenhouse and various harmful gases. Such emission of harmful gases is many times higher than the standard level of gases as recommended by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). It has also been observed that the phenomenon of stubble burning is quite high in Punjab with comparison to other northwest Indian states resulting into increase in incidence of ARI among children.