Many people are burning dry leaves and horticultural waste without thinking of the pollution they are causing. Because of this, Dwarka may just suffer another round of smog soon.
Panicky residents had to call fire tenders to douse this fire in Sector 6 last night
Wanton burning of leaves and horticultural waste across Dwarka will worsen the pollution plaguing the NCR and lead to further deterioration of the environment, as residents of the sub-city are finding out.
Rejimon CK, president of Dwarka Forum, spotted a fire in a vacant plot near Queens Valley School in Sector 8. He took a picture and a small video and shared it on WhatsApp. A similar incident was reported from near a vacant plot behind Guru Apartments and Vrindavan Apartments in Sector 6.
Panicky residents called a fire brigade to control the fire. What was discovered in these two incidents was that heaps of leaves and horticultural waste were being burnt across Dwarka.
PK Chopra, a resident of Sector 6, shared a video of smoke billowing from a heap of burnt leaves on Sunday. Yesterday the City Spidey team itself witnessed a fire in a vacant path at the chowk of Sector 13/14 and also in a temporary DDA play area in Sector 14.
Smoke from these fires will definitely cause a smog in and around Dwarka.
Residents and environment experts are concerned that this trend will worsen air quality in the sub-city. All these incidents take place after sunset.
AK Parashar, a resident of Agrasen Apartments, Sector 7, who has been raising the issue through his group, Mission Clean and Safe Dwarka, was sad that despite warnings, such incidents continued to occur. He told City Spidey that “it was unfortunate that the authorities were not effective enough to stop these acts. This is sad.”
Just when the air quality in Delhi was improving, increasing instances of burning of horticultural waste will bring things back to square one. A forecast of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) warns of foggy weather in the days to come.
The convenor of Natural Heritage First and a resident of Dwarka, Diwan Singh, has been working to save the environment. He shared his observations: “The air quality in Dwarka is going to be poor due to such burning. In view of the IMD warning, agencies should be strict and take action against anyone burning leaves and waste material.”
