A Choking October: India's Breath Gets Heavier

There are Octobers, and then there was that October. Last year, 2023, felt different, didn't it? A particular heaviness in the air, a certain dullness to the skies that, as it turns out, wasn't just imagination. A recent, frankly rather grim, analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air — or CREA, if you prefer — has confirmed what many of us likely felt in our lungs: India's air quality, across the board, took a monumental, worrying nosedive.

And when we say "nosedive," we're talking about the kind of plummet that hasn't been witnessed in half a decade. Think back to 2019; yes, that far. The numbers are stark, honestly. The average concentration of those insidious PM2.5 particles shot up by a whopping 10% compared to the October just prior. In raw terms, we’re looking at an average of 82 micrograms per cubic meter for the month — a figure that, for perspective, is more than double, actually almost two-and-a-half times, what our own national safety standards deem acceptable. Quite a reality check, wouldn't you say?

But what exactly conspired to make last October such a suffocating affair? Well, it’s rarely just one thing, is it? A confluence of unfortunate circumstances, you could say. The post-monsoon period, for instance, often brings with it a meteorological shift. We're talking about calmer winds, cooler temperatures, and those pesky temperature inversions — conditions that essentially act like an invisible lid, trapping pollutants close to the ground. So, what goes up, alas, often stays down.

Then, of course, there’s the perennial, heart-wrenching issue of stubble burning. It's a grim annual ritual, particularly across the agricultural heartlands of Punjab and Haryana. Fields are cleared, fires are lit, and huge plumes of smoke begin their slow, relentless march across the northern plains, adding layers upon layers of particulate matter to an already burdened atmosphere. It’s a challenge with deep roots, and honestly, one that seems incredibly stubborn to overcome.

And as if that weren't enough, October 2023, as we know, also saw the build-up to the festive season. While Diwali itself might have fallen in early November, the festive spirit — and let's be blunt, the associated emissions from firecrackers, increased traffic, and even some industrial activity revving up — certainly cast its shadow over the latter half of October. It's a potent, truly unpleasant cocktail of man-made and natural elements, each contributing its own noxious ingredient.

Perhaps the most sobering revelation, though, is that this isn't just a "Delhi problem" anymore, if it ever truly was. No, the tentacles of this poor air quality stretched far and wide. Cities like Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Begusarai, Noida, Faridabad, even distant Muzaffarpur and Hanumangarh, found themselves trapped in the higher echelons of the pollution charts. The Indo-Gangetic Plain, in truth, became a vast, collective gas chamber for days on end, seeing an alarming surge in what we classify as "poor" to "severe" air days.

So, where does this leave us? With a stark reminder, I think, that quick fixes and seasonal emergency measures are simply not enough. The problem, as CREA’s report so eloquently — and chillingly — highlights, is persistent and pervasive. It demands sustained, systemic change; a true, deep dive into our energy policies, agricultural practices, and urban planning. Because, really, isn't clean air a basic human right? And last October, for far too many, that right was tragically, painfully denied. It’s high time we truly address it.