This Hazed Kashmir

Thick cover of haze and smog has been enveloping Kashmir from last few days. This has affected lives of people and hit their daily activities. Smog is taking toll on health especially of kids and aged persons.

This has resulted in low visibility, especially in mornings, affecting air and surface transport in Kashmir. Schools too have been closed few weeks earlier than scheduled winter vacations mainly due to low visibility propelled by haze and smog amid cold wave in morning hours.
The situation is so alarming that even the satellite images captured by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), America’s civil space programme, depicted Kashmir valley fully covered by a thick blanket of smog on November 23. Experts have attributed prevalence of haze and smog to crop burning and temperature inversion phenomenon.

Air pollution is emerging as one of the major challenges to eco-fragile environment of Kashmir in last few years. With dismal power supply situation in Kashmir, there is high demand for coal which is used in traditional Kashmiri fire-pot popularly known as Kangris. Coal is obtained by burning of leaves, tree branches and twigs, and this activity is at its peak from autumn to winter across the valley.

Extensive air pollution is caused by dusty roads, emissions from brick kilns and cement and macadam plants in the valley. As per experts, the situation is bound to get worse as winter will reach its peak. We are witness that how the country’s capital city New Delhi is gasping for breath for the past over a week due to severe Air pollution levels. Kashmir is heading towards Delhi situation where even constructional activities and vehicular movement was partially halted.

Kashmir valley is bound by Pir Panjal and Greater Himalayan mountain ranges and these do not allow air masses to find an escape route. Temperature inversion in late Autumn and winter restricts vertical mixing of air and triggers build-up of haze primarily comprising dust (PM10 and PM2.5) and smoke (black carbon). The PM2.5 concentration in Srinagar’s air on January 9 this year was 28.2 µg/m³, which is 5.6 times over the World Health Organisation’s air quality values. The problem is compounded by the increasing number of diesel-run vehicles, and pollution from brick kilns, cement plants, and dusty roads.

A byproduct of temperature inversions in Kashmir is a buildup of haze—an aerosol mixture composed of fine particles found in smog, smoke, and dust. The trapped aerosols absorb and scatter incoming sunlight, creating a layer of poor visibility. Srinagar is the largest contributor of smog, smoke, and other human-caused aerosols in Kashmir.

Due to rising air pollution, there is spurt in respiratory diseases in Kashmir. Health experts have also set alarm bells ringing over J&K’s deteriorating air quality. As per a study published in Lancet, around 10, 000 deaths in J&K annually upto 2019 are attributed to air pollution.

Traces of Black carbon (BC) , a component of particulate matter (PM) in air that is produced by incomplete combustion of carbon-containing materials such as gasoline and coal, have been found in glaciers of Kashmir. As per a study ‘Black carbon in contrasting environments in India: Temporal variability, source apportionment and radiative forcing’, air quality is deteriorating fast in ski resort Gulmarg in north Kashmir and Srinagar in central Kashmir due to increased human, mechanical interventions and movement of diesel car.

Under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), authorities claim that works on a Rs 33 crore plan are being executed in Srinagar to reduce PM10 levels by 2025 to improve Air Quality Index in Srinagar district. The project includes creating green zones by way of mass plantations/landscaping along western Highways and adjoining areas, plantation of central verges, medians of major city roads and paving of earthen shoulders and installation of fountains in Srinagar City.
However, there is no trace of such interventions to reduce air pollution in Kashmir. Due to high demand for constructions, there is hardly regulation on mushrooming of brick kilns, stone crushers and macadam plants. There are no measures to prevent coal making near eco-fragile areas like forests and water bodies. Eco-sensitive Khrew-Khanmoh areas close to Dachigam National Park are engulfed by smoke from cement plants. Tons of garbage including polythene is being burnt openly on daily basis in absence of scientific garbage disposal.

We have to understand that Kashmir is prone to natural disasters. The valley has been bearing brunt of earthquakes, floods, landslides and an off-late erratic climate. Most of these natural disasters are triggered by haphazard developmental activities and vandalisation of our natural resources including water bodies, orchards, agricultural fields, mountains and forests. Even we have not spared glaciers and are responsible for rapid melting of our water towers. We have done irreparable damage to our fragile environment. We are leaving no stone unturned to pollute Kashmir’s air.

Gone are the days when fresh air of Kashmir even cured patients with chest ailments. Now we can hardly move without masks to save ourselves from respiratory diseases induced by pollutants in air. We are not polluting air but choking ourselves!

If we don’t learn lessons and wake up from slumber, we will gasp for breath. It is high time for Government and stakeholders to apprise people about the need to safeguard our natural resources.