For two weeks, the Tananariv capital has been surrounded by a thick mantle of fog that is visible for miles around and suffocates its inhabitants. The years go by and the situation is still the same.
as reported from Antananarivo,
As the hot season approaches, the Big Island gets a new face. Slash-and-burn cultivation (tavy) is in full swing among farmers, masonry runs night and day, bush fires set the plains on fire. These intense periodic fumes are added to the daily smoke from coal mining in forests, old vehicles still in circulation, and polluting factories often located in the heart of large cities.
In the southeastern part of the country, not far from the primary forest Ranomafana, the fire crackles on the hill. Blaise, a farmer, practices tavy, slash-and-burn farming.
“If we do this, it’s to be able to plant rice. First we cut the forest and let the trunks dry. Then we set it on fire. If we do not burn the remains of the branches, the rice production is not good. ”
Further, in the center of the country, within a radius of a hundred kilometers around the capital, dozens of acres of plains are currently in flames or just charred.
In Antananarivo, the numbers are clear. Think and Do Tank Indri, dedicated to promoting visible changes in the environment, is conducting its own fine particle surveys for the second year in a row.
“Normally (according to WHO recommendations) it should be 10 micrograms per M3 in the air. On September 8, we reached 407 mg / m3, ”notes Rova Barinira, Development Manager at Indri.
Many actions on the island … inadequate
To reduce pollution in the capital, Indri proposed concrete, short-term solutions. Establish standards for car engines in Tana. For the most part, they are very old and very polluting. Then it would be necessary to define the tolerance threshold for the components in fuels in Madagascar. Because we are in doubt about the composition of the fuels imported to the island. And finally, fight the wild burning of waste. ”
Today, there are a large number of actions and investments on the island led by local communities, civil society, the private sector, donors, the state to meet these challenges. “But everything takes place in silos in a scattered way,” complains Indri. It is now imperative to propose a coordinated and effective response to stop what may still be.
By the 19th century, Queen Ranavalona II had banned the cultivation of slashes and burning, which was too detrimental to the territory and health of the population. Two centuries later, environmentalists are once again fighting to make the fight against these fires a national priority.
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