Dengue grips Himachal town
Shimla, July 8 : With over 110 confirmed dengue cases reported in less than a week from the town of Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh, a central team is reaching there to deal with the situation, officials said on Sunday.
However, no death has been reported so far.
"A team deputed by Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda is reaching Bilaspur to ensure effective steps to check its further spread," a senior health official told IANS.
Bilaspur is Nadda's hometown.
State Health Minister Vipin Parmar is also visiting Bilaspur to take stock of the situation.
"We are taking all precautions to check further rise in the number of cases that include making people aware of the steps they need to take to minimise its spread," the official told IANS, adding there was no need to panic.
"Testing kits are available in adequate numbers in all government hospitals and dispensaries. Even private hospitals have also been directed to use the recommended kits only," he said.
The Regional Hospital in Bilaspur, some 60 km from capital Shimla, is getting five to 10 dengue cases daily.
Besides Bilaspur, the disease has spread to nearby towns like Ghumarwin and Jhanduta.
"We are monitoring the situation. We have started fogging and holding awareness campaigns to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes," Bilaspur Deputy Commissioner Vivek Bhatia said.
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Centre doubles fines for stubble burning
New Delhi, Nov 7: The Centre has doubled the fine for farmers burning crop residue in view of the deteriorating air quality in the Delhi-NCR region, the penalty going up to Rs 30,000 for those with more than five acres of farmland.
According to the notification, which was published on Wednesday and comes following the Supreme Court's tough stance on the issue, farmers with less than two acres of land will now have to pay environmental compensation of Rs 5,000, up from Rs 2,500. And those with land between two and five acres will be fined Rs 10,000 instead of Rs 5,000.
Unfavourable meteorological conditions combined with vehicular emissions, paddy-straw burning, firecrackers, and other local pollution sources contribute to hazardous air quality levels in Delhi-NCR during late autumn and winters.
According to a Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) analysis, the city experiences peak pollution from November 1 to 15 when the number of stubble-burning incidents in Punjab and Haryana increases.
Major factors behind stubble burning include the paddy-wheat cropping system, cultivation of long-duration paddy varieties, mechanised harvesting that leaves standing crop stubble in the field, labour scarcity, and the lack of a viable market for crop residue.
Studies estimate that during peak burning periods, farm fires contribute up to 30 per cent of PM levels in the Delhi-NCR region and surrounding areas.
However, according to senior environmentalist Sunita Narain, the episodic burning of crop residue by farmers in winter is not the primary concern for poor air quality in Delhi-NCR. Instead, the persistent and major sources of pollution within the city, including transport and industries, are more worrisome.
