On paper, open burning of crop residue is an offence punishable by a fine of Rs 2,500 per acre for stubble burning.
And in Punjab alone in one month, the Pollution Control Board had imposed a fine of Rs 8,92,500 as ¡°environmental compensation cess¡± on framers caught burning the stubble.
AP
But, despite an NGT ban, heavy fines and awareness efforts to educate the farmers not to resort to open burning of the crop residual, the latest data show that the number of the cases reported this year has only gone up.?
Supreme Court-appointed EPCA chairperson Bhure Lal said on Friday that more cases of stubble burning in Delhi's neighbouring states were recorded this time as compared to last year despite a strict enforcement.?
BCCL
Stressing on the need to bring a change in the mentality of people so that they look at the alternatives to this practice, he noted that paddy straw can be a very rich source of fertilisers and its best utilisation would be to merge it with soil.
Stubble burning in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana is one of the major causes of poor air quality in Delhi. The air quality in the national capital last Thursday went off the charts as smog caused due to the bursting of firecrackers engulfed the city. The air quality index (AQI) was recorded at a high 642.
AP
The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) chairman pointed out that despite the fact that "enforcement was strict this time, more stubble burning was recorded this year as compared to last year".
Lal said it had been seen that the younger generation was ready to look for alternatives, but the older generation still wanted to stick with stubble burning.
"It takes a period of 45 days for paddy straw to decompose completely and then be used as fertiliser, but farmers usually have just 25 days," he said.
"If we succeed in reducing this period of 45 days to 25 days, our problems related to stubble burning will be solved," the EPCA chairman said.
"Subsidies have been granted but still the practice of stubble burning is prevailing," he said, warning that this trend must change otherwise it would be "difficult to breathe".
AP
Stubble burning in neighbouring states combined with other factors in Delhi such as vehicular emissions, industrial pollution and smoke from firecrackers around Diwali plague the national capital's air quality every year.
This year too, the pollution level spiked to "severe-plus emergency" level due to the rampant burning of firecrackers leading to the formation of a blanket of smoke across Delhi.