Last year at the height of pollution, only 44 per cent of Delhi’s PM 2.5 load was attributed to stubble burning within the neighbouring Punjab and Haryana.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has planned a gathering with Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar. within the run-up to the meeting, Delhi CM flashed his sincerity to deal with the difficulty at hand by getting himself photographed with the scientists of the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), Pusa. The scientists have invented how to eliminate ‘parali’ (crop stubble) without burning.
But is stubble burning at rock bottom of the problem? Last year, when Delhi CM blamed the farmers of Punjab for ‘choking’ Delhi, Punjab CM Amrinder Singh during a letter to the Prime Minister wrote, “How can a rustic be called developed when its capital city has been reduced to a death chamber , not by any natural disaster but a series of artificial ones?” Stubble burning is a component of a natural action that farmers have practised for ages. why it’s now being blamed for the high level of pollutants in Delhi? there's , in fact, evidence that might show that ‘parali’ isn't to be blamed alone.
Last year at the height of pollution, only 44 per cent of Delhi’s PM 2.5 load was attributed to stubble burning within the neighbouring Punjab and Haryana.
Burning the residue of crops in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh has often affected Delhi, especially in winters, resulting in smog. aside from wheat and paddy stubble, sugarcane leaves are commonly burnt. Although the Delhi supreme court has banned the burning of stubble which makes both the soil and air poisonous, it continues every season.
Stubble burning started with mechanised harvesting which used combine harvesters. consistent with a politician report, quite 500 million tonnes of parali (crop residue) are produced annually within the country. Cereal crops (rice, wheat, maize and millets) account for 70 percent of the entire crop residue. rather than burning the stubble, it are often utilized in alternative ways like cattle feed, compost, roofing in rural areas, biomass energy, mushroom cultivation, packing materials, fuel, paper, bio-ethanol and industrial production.
Many policies were made by the govt within the past just like the National Policy for Management of Crop Residues to guard the parali, but weren't implemented. Burning crop residue may be a crime under Section 188 of the IPC and under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. However, the government’s implementation lacks strength.
Stubble burning directly contributes to environmental pollution and is additionally liable for the melting of the Himalayan glaciers. Burning crop residue also causes damage to other micro-organisms present within the upper layer of the soil, making the crops susceptible to disease.
