‘Nitrogen pollution wreaking havoc on farmland in state’

AMRITSAR:Experts at the day-long seminar on ‘The Scourge of Nitrogen Pollution in India’, on Thursday, delved deep into the crisis of growing nitrogen pollution, which is playing havoc with the farming lands in the country and how Punjab is the worst hit state.

The seminar was organised by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in collaboration with the Khalsa College here and ‘Down to Earth’ magazine. The key focus of the deliberations was to draw attention to the growing problem of nitrogen pollution in the country.

The rampant use of nitrate fertilisers in agriculture to get higher yields has led to the menace, which is growing dangerously, said experts.

They stated that this is resulting into severe contamination of water and soil, leading to health problems for both humans and animals.

There were two panel discussions one on the magazine’s cover story on nitrogen pollution, and the other on the challenges and opportunities faced by the media, especially the regional and vernacular media, in covering environment as a subject.

Souparno Banerjee, programme director, CSE, Down to Earth and editor Richard Mahapatra spoke in detail about the rising crisis and the mindless use of nitrogen.

Dilbir foundation chief and the Khalsa College Governing Council finance secretary Gunbir Singh and farm secretary Rajbir Singh said Punjab has paid a heavy price for the food security of the country.

``We have poisoned our soil and overexploited the underground water ,which is turning the fertile land into barren patches. This is all for securing food security of the country. But, when soil is polluted, the farming is in crisis, the country does not seem to be standing with our farmers and they are being left to fend for themselves,”, rued Gunbir Singh. HTC