Why stubble burning is so hard to fix

In early November, as the national capital was gearing up for its annual encounter with toxic smog, Bhupinder Singh, a farmer from Sangrur, Punjab, had to make a swift decision. He had to decide whether to spend ₹60,000 to remove the paddy stubble, which was left over after the rice harvest on his 15 acres of cropland, or simply set it alight. The matchstick was the obvious choice.

“I also care for the environment, but how can I spend more than ₹60,000 in one go?” asks Bhupinder Singh. Apart from the price tag, there was also a practical reason. “These machines (used for crop residue management) need a more powerful tractor than what I own. Plus, diesel is so expensive,” Singh added.

Ever since India celebrated the festival of lights, Diwali, on 4 November, Delhi and the entire Gangetic plains have been engulfed in a thick blanket of smog. Stubble burning by farmers in states such as Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh is just one of many proximate causes. The Supreme Court too acknowledged this fact while directing the government to consider a temporary lockdown on Saturday.