Paddy, the key kharif crop, is set to be harvested next month in Punjab. However, the problem of smog across the region during winter is unlikely to change as farmers are unwilling to shun the practice of stubble burning.
The perennial problem of stubble burning and the resultant pollution was in the limelight when the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had in 2015 banned burning of paddy straw in five States, including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. However, not much has changed after two years.
Demand financial aid
Farmers in Punjab are not ready to implement alternative methods to dispose of paddy straw without financial assistance.
“We will continue to burn paddy stubble unless we are suitably compensated for the expense we will incur. The State government should give us subsidy on farm equipment to be used for disposing of stubble,” said Kirti Kisan Union leader Nirbhay Singh.
In a recent letter to the NGT chairperson, Bhartiya Kisan Union president Balwant Singh Rajowal had said that farmers cannot be made solely responsible for checking pollution.
If the NGT seriously wanted farmers not to burn paddy straw, he added, it should ask the Centre to give them ₹5,000 per acre for disposal of paddy.
Meanwhile, the Punjab government has started the process of raising awareness among farmers about the ill effects of stubble burning.
Creating awareness
Punjab Additional Chief Secretary M.P. Singh had recently sent three mobile vans to educate farmers about the issue through films. The vans will also distribute other materials to farmers to educate them about techniques to deal with paddy straw.
