With pollution rising in cities of western Uttar Pradesh, farmers are seeking government support to get over the environmental crisis. It is not just Ghaziabad or Noida anymore, the Air Quality Index has crossed ‘severe’ category in Baghpat, Meerut, Hapur, and Bulandshar.
“Farmers are being made to feel responsible for the rising pollution levels, when the main cause is the increase in the number of vehicles in Delhi-NCR,” said Nishant Chaudhary, a postgraduate who does farming for a living in Achheja village of Bulandshahr.
“Stubble burning is just one of the many causes of pollution. It is being ‘marketed’ by governments of different States to pass the buck on the ordinary farmer who is grappling with an increase in input costs. It gets highlighted because its impact could be ‘seen’ because of the change in season,” he said.
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Admitting pollution was affecting their children, Mr. Chaudhary said farmers were not in a financial condition to invest in machines, even though subsidised, to prevent stubble burning. “At this time, every day is important for the farmer, as he is preparing for the wheat crop. He can’t wait for the subsidised mulcher to reach him. The government could buy stubble. It could be a source of biomass energy.”
Gopal Singh, who has a farm in Hastinapur and agricultural land in Jewar, said farmers used the stubble to feed the cattle after mixing it with sugarcane leaves.
Mr. Singh cautioned that the presence of combine harvester could be felt in the region as well and “perhaps that’s why the number of cases of stubble burning has increased in the last couple of years”.
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“We have so much unemployment, and agriculture could provide jobs to so many people. The government should think,” said Mr. Chaudhary.
‘Government’s job’
Mojpal Singh, retired professor of agriculture, Janta Vedic College, Baraut, said it was the government’s job to think long term, not farmers. “Farmers indulge in stubble burning because they are left with no choice. This is not the case with those who burn crackers or drive cars,” he said.