POLLUTION

Incidents of Stubble Burning Rise Rapidly in Punjab, Haryana; 'Parali' Management Measures Not Catching Up

A farmer stands in a field as smoke rises from the burning of paddy stubble at Agaul, on the outskirts of Patiala, Punjab. ( Piyal Bhattacharjee/TOI, BCCL, Delhi) — Representational Image
(Piyal Bhattacharjee/TOI, BCCL, Delhi)

Delayed delivery of Crop Residue Management (CRM) machines in Punjab and Haryana came up as a significant concern in the inter-ministerial meeting held on the issue of crop residue burning.

Amid the poor air quality situation in Delhi and surrounding cities, the meeting under the co-chairmanship of the Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Environment and the Minister of Fisheries and Animal Husbandry was held in the national capital.

Discussions were held regarding the status of implementation of the respective action plans of the NCR states and NCTD, utilisation of machinery for management, extensive use of bio-decomposers for in-situ management of paddy straw and other related issues.

In his brief presentation, the Minister of Agriculture highlighted that the status of Parali management in Haryana is significantly better than that in Punjab.

Nine out of 22 districts in Punjab and four out of 22 districts in Haryana are significant contributors to stubble burning in these states, and these 13 districts need to be focused upon more.

Until October 15, the fire events trend was less than last year, but now it has started growing rapidly, especially in Punjab.

Early harvesting is the reason for high fire counts in Amritsar and Tarn Taran. It was also apprised that the land coverage for applying Pusa decomposer is less in Punjab, which needs to be promoted and enhanced.

The representative of the Ministry of Power informed that it had mandated a 5% blending of biomass pellets with coal for co-firing in Thermal Power Plants (TPPs). The co-firing also helps to prevent CO2 emissions. Till now, 0.1 million MT CO2 emissions have been prevented.

The Chairman of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) said they had prepared a detailed framework for the management of 'parali', and the states have been advised to implement the same to contain stubble burning.

It was mentioned in the meeting that despite several meetings and efforts by CAQM, the steps taken by Punjab are inadequate.

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The above article has been published from a wire source with minimal modifications to the headline and text.

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