Thick smog over northern India two days after Diwali

PABITRA BANERJEE: The toxic haze that has taken over much of northern India amid dropping temperatures, an annual event now, is so intense that it is visible from space. A satellite view from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Worldview, an interactive web-based mapping and visualization tool, shows much of India covered in a thick, grey blanket on November 10.The intensity of the haze is at its thickest in northern India, covering the national capital, neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, and some of the surrounding states. The fog, as seen in the satellite view, also extends further north into the Himalayan states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir. Space-based imagery captured by NASA’s Earth-observing satellites highlights how the regional winter air quality crisis spans across borders, covering the Indo-Gangetic plains from eastern Pakistan to eastern India.While the intensity and position of the haze shifted day by day following post-Diwali celebrations and agricultural stubble burning, the pollution belt remained stubbornly locked over the plains due to calm winds and shallow boundary layer temperatures.The visual contrast is particularly prominent along the northern border, where the snow-capped Himalayan mountain range stands sharply against the heavy layer of grey smog trapped beneath. Environmental monitoring agencies note that while surface wind speeds offered brief local reprieves across urban centers like Delhi, satellite data confirms that the atmospheric pollutant load continues to blanket vast stretches of South Asia.The imagery underscores the severe regional impact of atmospheric inversion during late autumn, where cold surface air traps particulate matter, vehicle exhausts, and crop residue smoke near ground level. State authorities across the northern belt have stepped up emergency dust control, water sprinkling, and enforcement actions, but meteorologists warn that low wind speeds and falling night temperatures will likely keep the thick layer of smog suspended over the plains for the coming days.