New Delhi, November 3 (IANS). Government intervention in India and Pakistan could help stop the illegal practice of crop burning and reduce severe air pollution in South Asia, according to a new study.
According to the study led by Gemma DiPoppa, a researcher at Brown University in the US, air pollution caused by crop burning kills two million people in South Asia every year and has become a public health emergency.
The researchers also looked at the impact of crop burning pollution on infant and child mortality and estimated that 1.5 to 2.7 lives per 1,000 children could be saved if crop burning incidents were reduced.
“This is clearly a health emergency, and we thought, ‘Why isn’t the government responding to a challenge that is harmful to people?'” said DiPoppa, an assistant professor of political science at Brown University.
Dipoppa further said that we have decided to study the aspect of government interference and especially the administration of the state. DePoppa, along with his co-author Saad Gulzar of Princeton University, analyzed ten years of data on wind, fire and health. They found that in countries like India and Pakistan, the concerned government officials take action when pollution starts happening in their own areas. They are not active regarding pollution in areas outside their charge.
The study found that when air pollution is most likely to move toward neighboring areas, fires caused by crop burning increase by 15 percent. And when the wind spreads the pollution within its own area, there is a 14.5 percent reduction in fires.
The researchers also found that fines imposed by the government on rule breakers discouraged future crop burning and reduced fire incidents by a further 13 percent. This was contrary to the general perception that the problem was out of control.
“Government officials are already taking action on this issue, but they only do so when pollution impacts their own areas, not neighboring areas,” Dipoppa said.
This is important because it shows that government officials can stop crop burning. The authors say that if they get more resources they can reduce pollution to a greater extent.
–IANS
AS