Stubble burning spiked by 20% in summer: Hry pollution board

HUMAN RIGHTS PANEL HAD TAKEN SUO MOTU COGNISANCE OF A JUNE REPORT PUBLISHED IN HT AND SOUGHT A REPLY FROM THE HSPCB ON STUBBLE BURNING

Data released by the state pollution board shows that there has been an increase of over 20% in incidents of crop residue burning from April to June this year, despite efforts to clamp down on the practice to improve air quality in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). Stubble burning has been in the centre of the pollution storm, with the state governments of Delhi, Punjab and Haryana having several meetings in this regard.

A report submitted by the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) to the state Human Rights Commission (HRC), shows cases of wheat straw burning increased from 4,747 in 2017 to 5,927 in 2018 and further, to 7,378 this year. The state HRC had taken suo motu cognisance of a news report published in Hindustan Times, dated June 6, and sought a reply from the HSPCB on stubble burning.

Aware of the rampant crop residue burning, the state government failed in gauging the gravity of the matter even before paddy straw burning started in the state. Despite these efforts, the practice has continued largely unchecked.

In 2017, ₹10.61 lakh were collected in fines for stubble burning but no case was registered. In 2018, 882 FIRs were registered and ₹11.72 lakh collected in fines, whereas 95 FIRs have been registered in 2019, with a total fine collection of ₹42,500.

“The data collated from the Haryana State Application Centre (Harsac) and district level committees shows there has been an increase of more than 20% in crop stubble fire in summer,” a senior pollution board official said.

“From July till October, before the paddy straw burning starts, we conducted awareness campaigns for farmers. FIRs have been filed and environmental compensation was also imposed to prevent crop residue burning,” said the official.

According to the official, the issue was talked about in local newspapers, radio and television programmes, and through hoardings at prominent locations, such as panchayat offices, secretariats and marketplaces. Awareness programmes were also taken up extensively to educate the public on the harmful effects of the practice, besides competitions and rallies for school children.

The official said that it is the mandate of the agriculture department to boost mechanized management of stubble by providing equipment at subsidised rates. Officials of the agriculture department, however, refused to comment on the report.

Sumit Sharma, director, earth science and climate change division, The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri), said, “The impact of holding awareness campaigns cannot be seen in a month or even a year, but such programmes should continue. It will take its course of time to penetrate the rural level and will have an impact in the long term.” He pointed at the policy failure of the state government in establishing a business model to address the issue.

“We are currently focusing on in-situ solutions, such as providing stubble management equipment to farmers at a subsidised rate. It is, however, equally important to have an ex-situ management to convert the year-round residue into energy. It will be a beneficial proposition to farmers, aggregators and processors. A concrete policy has to be implemented on the ground,” said Sharma.

Arindam Dutta, a Teri fellow, who specialises in stubble burning studies, said the issue is addressed only in winter as we hardly see the impact of pollutants in summer.