The Supreme Court on November 6 ordered the Centre to prepare a comprehensive national scheme, in consultation with States, within three months to wean small and marginal farmers away from stubble burning, which has been identified as a major source of air pollution choking the national capital.
“Punishing poor farmers for burning stubble is not a solution,” Justice Arun Mishra, who led the Special Bench also comprising Justice Deepak Gupta, pointed out.
The Bench also ordered States to distribute crop residue management tools and machines to small and marginal farmers free of cost. The States need to use their own funds to finance the scheme, it said.
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The court would take a decision on the sharing of financial liability between the Centre and the States on a later date.
The court further ordered an incentive of ₹100 per quintal for small and marginal farmers who engage in the management of the residue of their non-Basmati variety rice crop in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, it asked the Delhi government to submit an action plan to deal with issues of garbage dumping and burning, pock-marked roads and the state of traffic congestion in the capital city. The court gave the government three weeks to repair the pot-holes.
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The Bench sat hours beyond ordinary court hours to address the problem of stubble-burning. It hauled up the chief secretaries of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh for doing almost nothing to prevent farmers from burning their crop residue.
A democratically-elected government cannot afford to not do anything. The elected government and administrative machinery cannot sit aloof in their ivory towers. The government cannot afford to fail the people, Justice Mishra said.
The court initially gave a seven-day deadline for the three States to collect stubble before the farmers burn them.
To the Punjab Chief Secretary Justice Mishra said: “Use as many trucks, use entire machinery and buy the stubble. There should not be one instance of stubble burning. We are not going to leave you like that, we are going to make you accountable for the past instances of stubble burning this year.”
Justice Mishra, at one point, threatened the Punjab Chief Secretary with suspension and even questioned his efficiency. The judge asked the bureaucrat whether, as Chief Secretary, he had not seen the problem of stubble burning coming up in the horizon and taken steps to prevent the problem.
At the beginning of the hearing, Attorney General of India K.K. Venugopal, for the Centre, submitted that “farmers are reluctant to stop stubble burning.”
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“They say they have no other alternative. Stopping it will affect their livelihood,” Mr. Venugopal said.
“How can a democratically elected govt say nothing can be done? Why is burning the only solution,” Justice Mishra asked.
“You cannot control two lakh farmers. Enforcement would be a problem. The farmers will keep doing that (stubble burning),” Mr. Venugopal reasoned.
He suggested that Punjab be divided into seven zones of paddy and wheat farming and stubble burning be allowed in each zone on particular days rather than burning it in all seven zones at the same time.
“It is your failure that stubble burning is happening. Burning is happening even as you divide zones on paper. Is the Attorney General of India saying that there is no solution? We expected a little more from a democratically elected govt,” Justice Mishra said, dismissing the top law officer’s suggestion.
Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta said stubble could be used as manure instead of being burnt.
“People are dying. Is this not total failure of the Centre or you (States),” Justice Mishra asked.