The government also claimed that stubble fires contribute only 10 per cent to the pollution. The other factors were vehicular emissions and the weather that caused the smoke to get converted into smog. (File)A team of professionals from the Indian Institutes of Technology are currently collecting data about the number of stubble burning incidents reported from each of the 12,500 villages in Punjab, it has been learnt. The team is also jotting down the names and other details of the farmers, with officials privy to the development saying, it is being done to create a database that will help prepare the Punjab government for the next harvesting season. The team has been handpicked by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, it has been learnt.
The move from Delhi CM reportedly came days after Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann admitted responsibility for paddy straw burning in the border state and promised to curb the practice by next winter.
“We admit Parali is being put on fire in Punjab but farmers are not responsible for it. We do not want any blame game. If Parali is burning in Punjab, we are responsible for it and our government is responsible for it..The AAP government in Punjab got just six months to address the problem. We need one more year. We will do everything, including management of Parali and crop diversification, to ensure considerable reduction in incidences of Parali burning,” Kejriwal had told a press conference in Delhi. Mann too promised that stubble burning would be brought under control by next November.
A senior government functionary said that the AAP dispensation was taking the issue very seriously. “We are collecting all data even though 90 per cent of paddy stubble has already been set on fire. The government does not want to take any coercive methods. They are looking at a solution with farmers on board. Also, they plan to start with a massive sensitisation campaign so that the farmers themselves think of a solution. So many people fell sick due to pollution. This is reason enough for the farmers to understand the gravity of the situation,” the functionary said.
He said that the other part of the strategy would be to supply farmers with stubble management machines. “We are starting now. A year is a long time to find a way. With professionals from IITs with us, we will find a way. We will prepare once we are ready with the data,” the functionary added.
The state has already recoded more than 45,000 farm fires this year. “The number is likely go up as 10 per cent stubble is still lying in the fields.” Punjab had state recorded 71,304 fire incidents in 2021; 76,590 in 2020; 55,210 in 2019; 50,590 in 2018; 45,384 in 2017; and 81,042 in 2016.
The functionary added that out of total paddy stubble produced, about 10 per cent is utilised as bio fuel. “The farmers are happy supplying the farm waste to biofuel units as they get compensated handsomely.”
The government also claimed that stubble fires contribute only 10 per cent to the pollution. The other factors were vehicular emissions and the weather that caused the smoke to get converted into smog.
After AAP taking over the reins of the state, Punjab and Delhi government had decided to collectively compensate the farmers for not burning paddy stubble. Both the governments held several meetings and finally it was decided that Punjab and Delhi would pay Rs 500 each for every acre to the farmers. As the demand is for Rs 2500 per acre, the governments then wrote to Centre seeking a grant of Rs 1500 per acre. The Centre, however, refused to match it.