For the period from September 15 to November 7, a total of 22,644 stubble-burning events have been recorded, out of which 93 per cent were in Punjab and 7 per cent in Haryana, a source said on Thursday.
The Cabinet Secretary called an urgent meeting on Wednesday with stakeholder ministries and state governments to discuss the steps needed for implementation of the directions issued by the Supreme Court this week on the air emergency in Delhi-NCR.
The meeting was held with Chief Secretaries and other senior officers of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and NCT of Delhi.
The meeting was also attended by the Chairman, of the Commission on Air Quality Management (CAQM) and Secretaries of the Ministries of Environment and Forests, Agriculture, Housing and Urban Affairs and Power.
“Based on the data provided by CAQM and the inputs provided by the State Governments, it emerged that the current crisis situation is majorly on account of stubble burning. 38 per cent of air pollution level was contributed by stubble burning on 8th November. For the period from September 5t to November 7, a total of 22,644 stubble-burning events have been recorded, out of which 20978 (93 pc) were in Punjab and 1605 (7 pc) in Haryana,” the sources said on Thursday.
It also emerged during discussions that harvesting is more than 90 per cent complete in Haryana whereas it is 60 per cent complete in Punjab.
“Immediate steps are, therefore, needed to check further stubble burning during the remaining harvesting season, particularly in Punjab,” it added.
The source further said that after detailed discussions, the Cabinet Secretary directed the Punjab Government to take effective actions to stop further stubble burning in the remaining days of this harvest season.
“Responsibility should be fixed on DCs/DMs, SSPs and SHOs for ensuring that there is no further stubble burning,” it added.
It also said that the CAQM was advised to send out flying squads to Punjab and Haryana and submit daily reports on the incidents of farm fires and the status of enforcement of directions of the Supreme Court by the DCs and SSPs.
“CPCB should make necessary manpower available to CAQM,” it said.
The source further said that the Union Secretary has further said that the follow-up actions are to be taken by all state governments in respect of cases instituted during the last two years for violation of the ban on stubble burning.
Rs 3,333 Crore has been released by the Ministry of Agriculture under the Crop Residue Management (CRM) scheme so far.
“Of this, Rs. 1531 Crore was released to Punjab and Rs. 1006 Crore to Haryana,” he said.
Nearly 1.20 lakh seeder machines are available under the CRM Scheme in Punjab and 76,000 in Haryana.
“The secretary also asked for the optimum utilization of these machines could have prevented stubble burning to such a large extent. State Governments of Punjab and Haryana were directed to make full use of available Seeder machines to prevent further stubble burning,” the source added.
As per the source, the secretary further said that the government of Haryana has been implementing their own incentive scheme for ex-situ management, that is, for procurement of straw from farmers and its transportation, etc.
“The government of Haryana also informed about an incentive scheme being implemented by them for crop diversification for encouraging farmers to shift from paddy to other crops,” he said, directing the Punjab government to launch similar schemes and announce them immediately so that stubble burning can be prevented in the remaining part of this year and next year.
“Haryana government should also make efforts to expand and enlarge the scope of their scheme for ex-situ management to ensure that there is no stubble burning next year,” he added.
The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) in the National Capital continues to be in the ‘severe’ category, as per the data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Toxic smog continued to persist over several parts of the city on Thursday morning.
According to the data issued by the System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR-India), AQI in Anand Vihar was recorded at 432 (severe category), while RK Puram area the AQI stood at 453 (severe category).
The air quality at Punjab Bagh was recorded at 444 (severe category), while ITO stands at 441 (severe category).
The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed grave concern over the hazardous air quality in the national capital and directed that farmers should stop stubble burning forthwith in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, saying it was one of the major contributors to air pollution.
It also observed that schemes like odd-even for vehicles to tackle pollution issues mere optics.
Delhi government on Monday decided to reintroduce the odd-even rule from November 13 to 20 in view of the concerns of deterioration in air quality. A decision on further extending the odd-even rule would be taken later.
According to the 8-point action plan, there will be a ban on entry of truck traffic into Delhi (except for trucks carrying essential commodities/ providing essential services and all LNG/ CNG/ electric trucks).
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
