Green think-tank Centre for Science and Environment said the average daily contribution of smoke from farm fires from the middle of October to November 8 has been the lowest in last four years.

The first severe smog episode has hit Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) and is expected to last for another two days, green think-tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said on Wednesday.

Even though the seasonal smog in Delhi is intense, the average daily contribution of smoke from farm fires from the middle of October to November 8 has been the lowest in last four years, it said.

“Predictably, the season’s first episode has been triggered by the combined effect of unfavourable weather conditions (cool and calm winds and inversion), stubble burning and firecrackers,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, CSE.

Compared to the first smog episode of previous four years, the current smog has matched the duration of the first smog of 2018 and 2020 season — both lasted six days. If conditions don’t improve, it might overtake the 2019 smog that lasted eight days, the CSE said.

The average intensity of the smog this year so far is 329 microgram per cubic metre per day, which is lower than that of the 2020 smog (by 7 per cent) and 2019 smog (by 3 per cent). It is more intense than the 2018 smog (about 9 per cent).

Lingering on of this year’s smog for longer duration despite relatively windier local conditions might be due to the lack of pollution control measures in the city, the green think tank said.

“While very high concentrations of PM2.5 have hogged attention, the levels of gases – ozone, CO or NO2 — have remained elevated during this smog episode. Also, the ratio of SO2 to NO2 increased on Diwali night indicating increased pollution load from firecrackers. The PM2.5 concentration on Diwali night (8 pm to 8 am) has been the most intense since 2017,” said Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager, Urban Lab, CSE.

This analysis is based on the real time data available from the current working air quality monitoring stations in Delhi-NCR and the larger Indo-Gangetic Plain.

On an average, contribution of smoke to Delhi’s daily PM2.5 during middle of October to November 8 has been the lowest in the last four years. So far, it has recorded on an average 12 per cent per day in contrast to 17 per cent per day in 2020, 14 per cent per day in 2019, and 16 per cent per day in 2018 (as reported by SAFAR),” the CSE said.

“If converted to absolute concentrations, the per day contribution of smoke stood at 26 microgram per cubic metre this year so far compared to 35 microgram per cubic metre in 2020, 40 microgram per cubic metre in 2019, and 31 microgram per cubic metre in 2018,” it said.

However, the peak contribution of smoke to Delhi’s PM level was recorded on 7th November when it hit 48 per cent.

This the second highest daily contribution percentage recorded since such estimation was started by SAFAR in 2018.

The highest single day contribution percentage has been 58 per cent recorded on November 5, 2018.

Reference: NDTV

Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate late Monday night after over 12 hours of questioning at its office at Ballard Estate.

He had appeared before the agency to record his statement around noon three days after the Bombay HC rejected his plea to cancel the agency’s summons in the laundering case filed against him.

He had been evading questioning by the ED for months and had exhausted his legal remedies. In the last few months, ED had raided several places to trace Deshmukh, but in vain.

ED officials were also surprised with Deshmukh’s move as he appeared before them around noon along with his advocate. The investigating officer started questioning Deshmukh just after his arrival, and the agency’s additional director flew in from Delhi in the evening to supervise the process.

Earlier, the ED had arrested Deshmukh’s private secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde for allegedly helping Deshmukh and his son Hrishikesh with money laundering. The ED said Deshmukh, through Shinde, had collected Rs 4.7 crore from (now-dismissed) assistant police inspector Sachin Waze in cash. Waze was then heading the CIU branch of Mumbai police and had collected the money from orchestra bar owners of Mumbai illegally for Deshmukh.

After Deshmukh appeared before the ED, his team released a pre-recorded video message. In it, Deshmukh said ex-Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh made false allegations against him and had now fled the country. In the video, Deshmukh said, “I received ED summons, and the media wrongly reported that I wasn’t cooperating with the probe. Each time after ED summons, I replied to them stating my petition was pending before the HC and SC, after its outcome I would present myself before the ED. Me, my family and our staff cooperated with ED during the probe.”

Deshmukh also released an unsigned statement that ED should act in a fair manner. “I’m today appearing before the ED, let the truth prevail, Satyamev Jayate,” he said. He said on account of a “witch-hunt campaign” launched at the instance of vested interests, false allegations have been levelled by persons who have “no credibility, honour or pride.”

He said a false narrative has been created that he is evading or avoiding appearing before ED.

In a shocking crime, a minor girl was sexually assaulted over a period of nine months. The Manpada police in Dombivli, a town neighbouring Mumbai, have booked 29 accused and arrested 26, including two minors, under the Indian Penal Code as well as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).

The arrested have been remanded to police custody till September 29. The minor offenders have been sent to a juvenile remand home. Police teams are searching for three others.

The 15-year-old victim approached the police on Wednesday night.

Her statement said her boyfriend recorded a video of them in an intimate act in January 2021, which he later used to blackmail her. Her boyfriend used the video to and force her into physical relations with some of his friends. “The victim reached the police station on Wednesday night. According to her statement, the accused sexually assaulted her repeatedly at various locations from January to September this year,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (east region) Datta Karale.

A Special Investigation Team, headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police (Administration) Sonali Dhole, has been formed to probe the case further.

According to the victim’s statement, sexual assault was committed repeatedly in various locations, including Dombivli, Murbad and Badlapur in the Thane district, and Rabale in Navi Mumbai.

According to police sources, the video used to coerce the victim is not yet in the police’s possession. “We checked the mobile phone of the girl and also of the 20-year-old boy with whom she was in a relationship previously. In both the phones, no such video as claimed was found. We will be sending the mobile phones for forensic analysis,” Senior Police Inspector Dadahari Choure, Manpada Police Station, said.

The police are also looking into the delay in reporting the crime, an official said. “All the accused are between the ages of 16 to 23 years and most of them are students. After the case was registered, our focus has been on arresting the accused,” Mr. Karale said.

Sources in the police said that, a few days ago, the victim and her maternal aunt went to a birthday party. The aunt noticed that the girl was not interested in the event, and was busy with calls and messages. Someone at the gathering hinted to the aunt that the girl was facing some issues. The aunt took her home, kept a watch on her for a week, and then took the girl into her confidence.

“In the conversation that followed, the girl narrated the ordeal that had started from January. The aunt got in touch with a social worker in the area, who then suggested that a trap be laid to nab the accused red-handed,” a police official said. The girl made a call to the accused and arranged a meeting. Some of the accused picked her up in an auto rickshaw while the social worker and victim’s aunt and uncle followed them in another auto rickshaw. The auto rickshaw in which the relatives and social worker were travelling had a punctured tyre, as a result of which they lost track of the vehicle in which the victim was travelling. They called the police. The girl, meanwhile, sent her aunt her location by GPS. The police, with the help of the aunt’s mobile phone, reached the location and began looking for the room in which the girl was. By then, the girl had been gang-raped by six men, who ran when they learnt of the police presence. The police nabbed two of them; the rest were caught on Thursday.

“After learning about the crime from the girl, had the family approached the police, at least the incident of Wednesday could have been avoided,” the officer added.

Source: TheHindu