Achieve zero stubble burning, Haryana told
Even the Haryana government has claimed that it has successfully achieved 45% decline in stubble burning last year from September 25 to November 15 as the state recorded 3,149 incidents of farm fires in 2022, compared to 5,724 in the corresponding period in 2021.
The chairman of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the NCR and adjoining areas MM Kutty has directed Haryana to achieve zero stubble burning during the kharif harvesting season.
“You make any plan and take any step but you have to bring stubble burning to zero,” Kutty has reportedly told the deputy commissioners of 14 districts that have maximum crop residue burning cases in the state.
Even the Haryana government has claimed that it has successfully achieved 45% decline in farm fires last year from September 25 to November 15 as the state recorded 3,149 incidents of farm fires in 2022, compared to 5,724 in the corresponding period in 2021.
“But now the CAQM has strictly directed the deputy commissioners of eight districts, Fatehabad, Sirsa, Jind, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Ambala, Yamunanagar and Karnal to ensure 100 % check on stubble burning as these districts are responsible for approximately 90 % of fires in the state,” said an official who attended the meeting.
The meeting was called to ensure the proper management of crop residue during the year 2023 in Haryana, the NCR and its adjoining areas.
“Instructing all the deputy commissioners and other concerned officers of the state, Kutty said that no doubt Haryana has done better work in the direction of stubble management to reduce air pollution, but incidents of stubble burning have to be brought to zero and for this the district administration needs to work harder in this direction,” he said.
He also gave district-wise detailed information about incidents of stubble burning last year and made it clear that instead of 50 %, Haryana should ensure a complete ban on stubble burning and achieve the zero burning.
Farmers of nearby districts should be made aware to deliver stubble to the ethanol plant set up at the IOCL, Panipat, for stubble management, he added.
“Inspire the farmers to adopt the stubble as a business instead of burning it. Also encourage industrial units to find out different ways to utilise crop waste”, he added.
He said that the incidents of stubble burning in the NCR region would be closely monitored by the commission.
Sumita Mishra, additional chief secretary to Haryana agriculture and farmers welfare department, said, “We will ensure the compliance of the directions and will step up efforts from the beginning to achieve near zero incidents.”
The ACS said that as per the state action plan, there will be more focus on prevention, effective campaigns, micro-level planning, availability of CRM machinery and strict enforcement.
Misra said that Haryana is the only state in the country where farmers are being given an incentive of ₹1,000 per acre for stubble management. Under this scheme, an amount of ₹84.30 crore has been given to 92,442 farmers. Similarly, an amount of ₹41.42 crore has been provided to 34,239 farmers adopting crop diversification and ₹29.12 crore were given to 16,616 farmers for adopting direct sowing of paddy and 7,044 machines have been made available for crop residue management at a cost of ₹100 crore.