Union Minister Bhupender Yadav criticizes Punjab, praises UP and Haryana govt for stubble burning control

Coming down heavily on the Punjab government over the excessive stubble burning, the Union Minister in his remarks expressed concerns and said that the "Government of Punjab had not been able to take coordinated actions to contain stubble burning in the state."

New Delhi:During an Inter-Ministerial meeting under the co-chairmanship of the Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Union Minister of Environment Bhupender Yadav on Wednesday said it is heartening to note that the Government of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have done remarkable work towards control of stubble burning.

Coming down heavily on the Punjab government over the excessive stubble burning, the Union Minister in his remarks expressed concerns and said that the "Government of Punjab had not been able to take coordinated actions to contain stubble burning in the state." He reiterated that the State had been provided sufficient equipment and farm machinery under the Crop residue management (CRM) scheme of MoA&FW and also adequate funds have been provided yet there has not been sufficient progress in the implementation of the action plan.

During the meeting, discussions were held regarding the status of implementation of the respective action plans of the NCR States and NCTD, utilization of machinery for in-situ and ex-situ management, extensive use of bio-decomposers for in-situ management of paddy straw, arrangement for supply of paddy straw to various industrial, commercial, bio-energy and other applications, facilitation of farmers and others.

Ministry of Agriculture at the meeting made a brief presentation on the actions taken by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying for the Management of Crop Residue Burning. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar highlighted that the status of Parali management in Haryana is significantly better than that in Punjab.

"9 out of 22 districts in Punjab and 4 out of 22 districts in Haryana are major contributors of stubble burning in these states," he said. These 13 districts need to be focused upon more. Sangrur, Moga, Tarn Taran and Fatehabad are among them. Till 15th October, the trend for fire events was less as compared to last year but now it has started growing rapidly, especially in Punjab, he further added.

A representative of the Ministry of Power informed that it has 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.

During the online meeting, the Chief Secretary, Govt. of Punjab was asked to enhance the application of the Pusa decomposer and control the increasing rate of Active Fire Events in Amritsar and ensure a 50% reduction in cases of Active Fire Events in the State in comparison to last year.

Chief Secretary, Govt. of Haryana reported a 55% reduction in Active Fire Events in the state in comparison to last year. Similarly, the Chief Secretary, Govt. of UP was advised to carry on with their positive efforts and ensure the maintenance of progress achieved so far in the field of Parali management.