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Image Credit: tv9hindi.com
The main cause of pollution in Delhi-NCR is the burning stubble in Punjab. This has come to light in a high-level meeting chaired by the Cabinet Secretary. It was told that straw contributes 38 percent to pollution in Delhi. The meeting was held by the Cabinet Secretary on the directions of the Supreme Court, in which the Chief Secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and NCT Delhi and other senior officials were present.
In the meeting, based on data provided by CAQM and information provided by state governments, it emerged that the current crisis situation is mainly due to stubble burning. On November 8, smoke from stubble burning contributed 38 percent to air pollution levels. The Chairman of Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) and Secretaries of Environment, Forest, Agriculture, Housing and Urban Affairs and Power Ministries were present in the meeting.
The stubble is burning fast in Punjab
It was told in the meeting that from September 15 to November 7, more than 22 thousand cases of stubble burning have been reported in Punjab and 1607 in Haryana, out of which 93 percent of the incidents have been recorded in Punjab and 7 percent in Haryana. The special thing is that in the meeting, the officials made it clear that there is no possibility of getting relief from Delhi’s pollution at present, because till now only 60 percent harvesting has been done in Punjab. While in Haryana, nearly 90 percent of the harvest has been done. This simply means that stubble burning cases will continue in Punjab for the time being, this will affect Delhi NCR.
The team will be sent to Punjab
It was told in the meeting that the harvest is yet to be done in Punjab, so immediate steps should be taken to prevent incidents of stubble burning. It was decided in the meeting that flying squads will be sent to Punjab to prevent stubble burning cases. It will be the responsibility of concerned DC or DM, SSP and concerned Head of Police Station to ensure that stubble does not catch fire. The meeting was asked to provide information about all the cases of stubble burning recorded during the ban on stubble burning.
Punjab got budget for crop residue management
It was informed in the meeting that till now Rs 3333 crore has been released by the Ministry of Agriculture under the Crop Residue Management (CRM) scheme, out of which Punjab has received Rs 1531 crore and Haryana Rs 1006 crore. Apart from this, 1.20 lakh seeder machines have been made available in Punjab and 76,000 seeder machines in Haryana under the CRM scheme. Crop residues can be managed using these machines, in which case there will be no need for stubble burning.
It was also decided in the meeting that such arrangements should be made so that the remaining stubble is not burnt this year and it should be stopped completely next time. Both the states of Punjab and Haryana were asked to ensure this besides initiating other schemes for crop residue management.
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