Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday dismissed SAFAR's observation of stubble burning contributing in Delhi's air as barely 10 per cent and said it is misleading. "There is no specific machinery to measure either the component or the cause of pollution," said Kejriwal.
The Chief Minister said these guessing games should be stopped and the agencies should behave more responsibly about the figures and data they share.
System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting (SAFAR) of the Ministry of Earth Science's air quality and weather forecast service, had in a recent report said that the share of stubble burning in the PM 2.5 concentration in Delhi has remained less than 10 per cent so far.
PM 2.5 stands for particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter. Particles narrower than 10 micrometres are the most hazardous because they can get deep into the lungs, and some may even get into the bloodstream.
The Chief Minister also issued a statement, saying until a solution to the pollution coming from outside is found, the people of Delhi will keep suffering.
Agencies claiming little impact of stubble burning should behave more responsibly and sensitively about the figures and data they are sharing, he said.
The sources of pollution can only be measured using real-time source apportionment, he said in a statement.
He said his government was trying to import the specific machinery for this purpose. "If we take a sample of air of this particular place, we can check the level of pollution and also measure the components of pollution like transport, stubble burning, etc. "The components or causes of pollution can only be measured by that machinery. None of the agencies that are claiming figures on the stubble burning component of air pollution have this machinery," he said.
If the agencies are claiming that stubble burning is causing 10 per cent of all the air pollution, then they should also be able to tell the Delhi government the source of the rest of the components of pollution, Kejriwal said.
"How could have local sources contributed to the sudden spike in pollution?.. There has been no source apportionment of pollution by any of these agencies. These guessing games should be stopped," the chief minister said.
The local pollution sources of Delhi are the same as previous month and the month before that, he said, adding that clearly, the sudden spike in pollution is a result of smoke coming from outside.