Minister for Environment, Forest and climate Change Shri Prakash Javadekar has said, the Central Government has been working constantly on all the frontstowards mitigation of Air Pollution.

Expressing concern over the pollution level in the northern parts of the country especially national capital Delhi, the Minister said that the government is working towards abatement of Air Pollution by working at the source level, be itindustries orthermal power stations, vehicular pollution, construction and demolition waste or stubble burning, which are the major sources of pollution generation. He said, the government will continue to strive hard to bring an end to the issue of Air pollution and encourages all possible technological interventions in this regard.

Australia-returned farmer Virender Yadav (32) of Faras Majra village in Kaithal district is on cloud nine after Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared his story of earning money from stubble management while addressing the nation in his monthly radio programme ‘Mann ki Baat’ on Sunday.

Yadav has been receiving greetings from people as well as officials of Kaithal and surrounding districts. Kaithal Deputy Commissioner Sujan Singh as well as Deputy Director Agriculture, Kaithal, Karam Chand lauded his efforts.

At a time when people are struggling due to air pollution partly due to stubble burning, Yadav has set an example by making money by selling stubble to agro energy plant and paper mill.

Yadav had never imagined that ...

At a time when Delhi’s air pollution levels have spiked due to stubble burning in neighbouring states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday shared the story of a farmer from Haryana who is making money by selling stubble to agro energy plant and paper mill.

“Virendra Yadav ji used to live in Australia. Two years ago, he came to India and now lives in Haryana’s Kaithal. Like others, farm stubble was a big problem for him also. Efforts are being made on a large scale to resolve the issue. To find a solution to stubble, Virendra ji bought a Straw Baler machine to make bundles of straw. For this, he also received financial assistance from the ...

New Holland Agriculture, a brand of CNH Industrial and one of the world’s leading agriculture equipment brands, has delivered the second BigBaler 890Plus – large square baler along with T6070 tractor to Farm2Energy, India’s largest biomass aggregator. This new equipment was delivered to Farm2Energy’s founder Sukhbir Singh Dhaliwal and his team at their company’s premises in Bija village, in Ludhiana District, Punjab.

To enable the use of surplus crop residue for energy generation, rather than burning it in the field, New Holland Agriculture offers a complete range of equipment for harvesting, collecting and transporting biomass.

The state steering committee approved a budget of Rs 22.56 crore for setting up bio-fuel plants in seven districts — Meerut, Baghpat, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Hapur and Muzaffarnagar — in the national capital region (NCR) for productive use of crop residue and treatment of other bio-degradable waste to address the issue of stubble burning and air pollution.

The steering committee headed by chief secretary RK Tiwari held a meeting on Thursday for consideration and approval of the projects as well as their implementation and monitoring under National Adoption Fund on Climate Change and decided to implement orders of the National Green Tribunal on Climate Resilience Building in Rural Areas Through Crop Residue ...

As Northern India gets shrouded in smog clouds in yet another winter season, the spotlight is back on the issue of stubble burning. To tackle this complicated issue, extending a helping hand are the FMCG and food processing companies by working closely with farmers, especially in the States of Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan on sustainable farming practices.

PepsiCo India said that as part of its Sustainable Farming Programme, which was initiated in 2016, it developed training modules and training sessions with agronomists in Punjab. These agronomists conducted hundreds of training sessions with farmers in the State to create awareness on alternates to stubble burning and helping them prepare for potato cropping in 2019-20.

A proprietary microbial solution developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) could be a breakthrough in the hunt for a solution to crop-residue burning, a major cause of winter pollution in north India, results from trials in Delhi and Punjab show

“The ICAR’s invention, named Pusa, decomposes crop residue, including paddy straw, and turns it into manure in about 25 days, thus eliminating the need to burn paddy stubble. It could be a breakthrough if adopted with an integrated approach,” YV Singh, principal scientist of microbiology at Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), an affiliate institution of the ICAR which developed the solution, told HT.

Singh said the technology had an efficacy range of 70%-80%, citing results ...

Every year fear grips 14-year-old Harsimran Singh, son of a farmer from a village near Jagraon, ahead of stubble burning season. For, around the time, it becomes difficult for him to breathe and he has to use an inhaler.

“My father stopped setting stubble on fire after I developed this respiratory problem. A doctor told us that my problem was directly related to smoke. There are many farmers in the village who burn stubble as they don’t have adequate resources to dispose it of. The doctor advised me to use an inhaler and avoid going out when stubble burning was in full swing,” said Harsimran.

New Holland Agriculture, a brand of CNH Industrial and one of the world’s leading agriculture equipment brands, has delivered the second BigBaler 890Plus – large square baler along with T6070 tractor to Farm2Energy, India’s largest biomass aggregator. This new equipment was delivered to Farm2Energy’s founder Sukhbir Singh Dhaliwal and his team at their company’s premises in Bija village, in Ludhiana District, Punjab.

To enable the use of surplus crop residue for energy generation, rather than burning it in the field, New Holland Agriculture offers a complete range of equipment for harvesting, collecting and transporting biomass.

The state steering committee approved a budget of Rs 22.56 crore for setting up bio-fuel plants in seven districts — Meerut, Baghpat, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Hapur and Muzaffarnagar — in the national capital region (NCR) for productive use of crop residue and treatment of other bio-degradable waste to address the issue of stubble burning and air pollution. The steering committee headed by chief secretary RK Tiwari held a meeting on Thursday for consideration and approval of the projects as well as their implementation and monitoring under National Adoption Fund on Climate Change and decided to implement orders of the National Green Tribunal on Climate Resilience Building in Rural Areas Through Crop Residue ...

A proprietary microbial solution developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) could be a breakthrough in the hunt for a solution to crop-residue burning, a major cause of winter pollution in north India, results from trials in Delhi and Punjab show.

“The ICAR’s invention, named Pusa, decomposes crop residue, including paddy straw, and turns it into manure in about 25 days, thus eliminating the need to burn paddy stubble. It could be a breakthrough if adopted with an integrated approach,” YV Singh, principal scientist of microbiology at Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), an affiliate institution of the ICAR which developed the solution, told HT.

Singh said the technology had an efficacy range of 70%-80%, citing results from ...

Yet another farmer was imposed a fine for allegedly burning stubble in the field amid growing resentment against the air-pollution control measure that saw BKU activists dumping harvest residues in the office campus of a revenue official in Khatauli near here. Ashok Kumar, a farmer from Sikandarpur village in Muzaffarnagar district was imposed a fine of Rs 2,500 on Tuesday, said Additional District Magistrate Amit Singh. Kumar was the 38th farmer in the district who was imposed the fine for burning stubble, said Singh adding 37 others were fined earlier — some of them for burning stubble to clear the field, others for burning garbage or doing it to get relief from cold. A total of Rs ...

The Uttar Pradesh government is ready with a new bio-fuel policy which is being seen as a significant move to deal effectively with the environmental crisis arising out of stubble burning by farmers in the state.

The proposed policy seeks to promote and incentivise setting up of power generation plants based on paddy straws and also makes it mandatory for state-owned thermal stations to use agricultural residue as raw material with coal to fire the power plants.

“The draft policy titled Uttar Pradesh Bio-Fuel Policy-2020 is ready and will soon be put before the cabinet for approval before the final policy is rolled out to effectively manage crop residues/stubble, among other things, in the state,” said ...

Punjab has recorded around 74,000 incidents of stubble burning this season, the maximum in four years, with experts saying anger over farm bills and the government not paying the Supreme Court-ordered financial incentive to farmers could be among the reasons for the spike in farm fires.

According to data released by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, the state recorded 73,883 incidents of stubble burning between September 21 and November 14, which is the highest since 2016.

Punjab had reported 51,048 cases of stubble burning in the corresponding period last year and 46,559 such incidents in 2018. The number of farm fires was 43,149 in the state during the same period in 2017.

Instead of a piecemeal approach, the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) is consulting north-western states to find out a workable, long-term solution to the problem of stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and other places, which leads to an air emergency in Delhi-NCR every year, MM Kutty, chairperson of the newly formed body has said.

A combination of extremely high number of stubble fires in Punjab, low to calm winds in the region and subsidence of air had led to Delhi recording “severe” air quality for six days consecutively since November 5 this month. At present, the contribution of stubble fires to Delhi’s PM 2.5 load is negligible but ...

he District Agriculture department has launched a massive campaign among farmers to discourage the practice of stubble burning after harvest. Usually, farmers resort to stubble burning after harvesting Kharif crop to prepare the ground for sowing of Rabi crop. In the process, enormous amounts of toxic particles are released in the air. District Agriculture Officer Asish Kumar Barui has urged farmers in all eight blocks to refrain from burning stubble in the field. “We have started a massive campaign against stubble burning. The problem persists as farmers use mechanical harvesters, which leave behind a substantial part of the crop’s root as the residue,” Barui said.

Environment activist Subhas Dutta plans to move NGT over the stubble burning issue in New Town and parts of Salt Lake, which is deteriorating the already poor air quality in these areas as winter sets in. Stubble burning has become a major environmental concern for New Town with several cases being reported in the township in the past few weeks. The matter first came to notice a month ago when a few Red Munia birds were killed and their nest gutted as a result of stubble burning on a plot opposite Eco Park.

The number of cases is said to have come down after local residents, along with volunteers engaged by the New Town ...

The burning of paddy fields after the harvest, or stubble burning, is a major seasonal contributor to air pollution in north India just prior to winter. In the northern belt metros, already polluted with many activities, this additional pollution load from stubble burning tipped the scales heavily towards hazardous air quality index exceeding 400 and even reaching 1,000 in some places for some days, when the acceptable norm is 120 as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The resulting air pollution is now responsible for the ill health of millions and deaths of lakhs of people, and dominates headlines of newspapers in the entire northern belt. Reducing air pollution would require tackling the ...

IARI director Ashok Kumar Singh claims that the decomposer is capable of dealing with all kinds of bio-masses. That said, it will enrich the soil along with reducing pollution. The capsule consists of a combination of different microbes that produce various hydrolytic enzymes that speed up the degradation process. Y.V. Singh, Principal scientist of the Microbiology division of IARI, Pusa stated that the decomposer is entirely organic. Besides, it is affordable as 25 litres of the solution made from four tablets each costing Rs 5 is enough to decompose crop residue over a hectare of field.

In early October, Chief Minister of Delhi and Development Minister Gopal ...

The Madhya Pradesh government has proposed a plan to set up an industrial unit producing fuel from stubble burnt by the farmers in the state, said Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel. This would help save the environment, putting an end to the air pollution caused by stubble burning.

The Minister recently met Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi and discussed several issues, including the initiative of producing clean fuel from stubble burnt by the farmers.

After harvesting the crops, the farmers set them on fire which results in stubble burning releasing widespread smoke and harms the environment. To prevent this emphasis is being laid on producing clean fuel from the burnt stubble.

Come winter and India’s national capital gets shrouded in a thick blanket of smog that is a result of the humongous burning of crop stubble on acres and acres of farmland in neighbouring Haryana and Punjab. The social and political debates on the problem too get as dark as the smoke billowing in the sky. The good news is that the concern can translate into action that will not only curb pollution but will also lend a delightful solution to the energy issue of our country.

While changing seasons may be called a magical manifestation of nature, human interference only distorts its glory and in fact turns it against humanity’s interest. Winters in the surroundings of Delhi ...

The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas said it will take steps and prepare policies to control stubble burning on a day AAP MLA and chairperson of Environment Committee of Delhi Assembly Atishi urged the newly-appointed green panel to hold chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana liable for causing pollution in the national capital.

According to Environment Ministry spokesperson, the three (AAP) MLAs requested the Commission to take prompt action against Punjab and Haryana for “criminal negligence regarding stubble burning” and suggested options, including the in-situ decomposition technology developed by IARI, for large-scale adoption.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Monday attributed the high COVID-19 death rate in the city to the pollution caused by stubble-burning and expected a downtrend in it in the next two-three weeks.

The minister told reporters here that the pollution due to stubble-burning created a big problem in Delhi. It caused problems in breathing and those who had COVID-19 inhaled the smoke, which aggravated the seriousness, he said.

The burning of paddy fields after the harvest, or stubble burning, is a major seasonal contributor to air pollution in north India just prior to winter. In the northern belt metros, already polluted with many activities, this additional pollution load from stubble burning tipped the scales heavily towards hazardous air quality index exceeding 400 and even reaching 1,000 in some places for some days, when the acceptable norm is 120 as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The resulting air pollution is now responsible for the ill health of millions and deaths of lakhs of people, and dominates headlines of newspapers in the entire northern belt. Reducing air pollution would require tackling the ...

Air Quality Index (AQI) in New Town has consistently remained in the moderate to poor range over the last one week with a high PM2.5 count, especially in the evenings and through the nights, according to readings taken by a private agency. As per the readings, AQI has been rising from the evening and remaining high till early morning and sliding during the day. On Sunday, the AQI was 163 at 10 am. It dropped to 101 at 1 pm but again increased to 120 at 6pm.

As per the West Bengal Pollution Control Board’s automatic station in Bidhannagar, which is close to New Town, the AQI was 250 at 1 pm, 229 at ...

The Jhansi district administration in Uttar Pradesh said on Sunday that it would register an FIR and impose a fine of Rs 2,500 for any case of stubble burning.

Taking cognizance of stubble burning at 259 places, District Magistrate Andra Vamsi said police would monitor the situation for the next 15-20 days.

Vamsi said farmers were being informed and made aware not to burn stubble.

Aimed at answering queries of farmers, assisting them in operating agricultural equipment and spreading awareness regarding proper management of paddy stubble, agricultural experts from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) would be providing guidance through a WhatsApp chatbot.

To avail the service introduced by the state government, farmers need to type “parali” and send it on WhatsApp to the mobile number 6283191730 to generate queries or seek information. Farmers can also visit this link http://bit.ly/2HxncFu.

Scientist at the Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in Pusa have come up with the ‘decomposer capsules.’ These capsules, called Pusa decomposer, a composition of eight microbes, will help ready the land for the sowing of the next crop without the farmers burning the crop residue.

Agriculture scientists in Delhi’s Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) have developed a low-cost, effective technology to deal with crop stubble burning, which when deployed, will help tackle a major source of winter pollution in the national capital.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), a government-run monitoring agency, stubble burning from the farms in Punjab and Haryana worsened the air pollution problem that Delhi faces. The stubble-burning by farmers from these two neighbouring states shares 42 per cent of total causes of the air pollution affecting Delhi on certain early winter days.

Pusa Decomposer, a microbial spray, developed by the Microbiology Division of the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), Delhi, is the harbinger of hope for an end to paddy residue burning which has been on the rise in the paddy fields of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and around Delhi for the last half a decade. The intervention derives its name from the Pusa campus of the IARI in Delhi.

With farmers setting agricultural fields on fire from October to December to get them ready for wheat sowing after harvesting paddy, the air over the National Capital Region has been turning increasingly toxic. The pollution also spreads across the Indo-Gangetic Plains and other parts of north India.

Punjab saw a sharp rise in stubble-burning incidents in the kharif season this year. This happened despite the Supreme Court’s intervention in the matter in 2019.

Last year, the court had said that states must provide Rs 2,400 per acre cash incentives to small and medium farmers, along with subsidies on the purchase of machinery which is used to manage crop residue. But farmers of Niamian village near Kurali in Punjab say that not much has happened on the ground.

In August this year, the Punjab government informed the Supreme Court that they have not been able to provide cash incentives to farmers due to financial restraints that the state is facing during the pandemic.

Punjab generates over 20 million tonnes of paddy stubble annually out of over 90 per cent is consigned to flames to clear the fields for the next crop. This contributes to air pollution in and around Delhi-NCR.

This year, people of Delhi hoped that bio-decomposer capsules prepared by scientists of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (also known as PUSA institute) would help prevent stubble burning in neighbouring states.

New Delhi November 6The Delhi government on Friday set up a 15-member impact assessment committee to ascertain the effectiveness of “Pusa bio-decomposer” solution in reducing stubble burning in the national capital. According to scientists at Indian Agricultural Research Institute Pusa the solution can turn crop residue into manure in 15 to 20 days and therefore can prevent stubble burning. “The government has decided to set up an impact assessment committee to ascertain the effectiveness of Pusa bio-decomposer in reducing stubble burning in Delhi” Rai said during a press conference. Rai hoped that the newly-constituted Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas will ensure that other “states also use the cost-effective Pusa ...

Gurmeet Singh, a 40-year-old farmer from Punjab’s Katianwali village, has not set fire to his stubble even once in the past five years. This is because he has been using the much-talked about ‘decomposer’ capsules that were developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI).

The capsules, also known as the Pusa tablets after the area in Delhi where the institute is located, consists of a combination of microbes that hastens the process of decomposition in plants.

“I have been using Pusa tablets for the past four years. At first, they were being used on my field for research purposes and this year again it was applied,” Gurmeet told ThePrint.

He ...

Delhi’s hazardous air, a chronic problem, has elicited a rush of decisions from the Centre and state government. The former has set up a new commission chaired by a retired secretary to the Government of India, constituting experts from government, academia and civil society. The state government banned firecrackers on Diwali with only limited effect. In any case, neither would solve the problem. The work of a Nobel Prize-winning economist might offer a solution.

A commission would be particularly useful if the matter of hazardous air quality was brand new and needed discussion and deliberation to get to the bottom of the problem and on top of the solution. A ban on firecrackers could prevent an ...

With the number of farm fires significantly reducing in the last four days, experts are saying its peak season is over because stubble burning began in early September. Only 98 fire counts were recorded in northern plains on Monday as against 282 on Sunday, according to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research. The daily count is likely to be 500-1,000 for the rest of the month, predict experts.

The AAP wants to appeal to the Air Quality Commission as well as the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognizance and lodge cases of criminal negligence against the chief ministers of Haryana and Punjab for pollution plaguing Delhi due to stubble-burning, party spokesperson Atishi said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference, she said the people of the national capital are unable to breathe in clean air due to stubble-burning in Punjab and Haryana. The pollution caused by stubble-burning has further weakened the lungs of people, which were already affected due to COVID-19, the Kalkaji MLA said.

As Punjab is heading towards an all-time high production of paddy this kharif season, experts welcomed the resultant higher income for farmers, but also raised concern over its long-term impact.

According to experts, increase in production means efforts for diversification will take a hit, as more farmers will shift back to growing paddy that offers an assured income by way of minimum support price.

As per the crop cutting experiments conducted by the state agriculture directorate, there’s an increase of 10.5% in the paddy yield. “It is expected to break the previous record of 2017, when a total of 199.65 lakh tonne paddy was produced (including basmati),” said director agriculture Rajesh Vashisht. Non-basmati varieties production in ...

Punjab has recorded around 74,000 incidents of stubble burning this season, the maximum in four years, data released by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre showed. Experts believe this is a direct fallout of the government’s three new agricultural laws that have been at the center of protests in the state for months, reported PTI.

The state recorded 73,883 incidents of burning of stubble between September 21 and November 14, which is the highest since 2016. Punjab had reported 51,048 agricultural fires in the corresponding period last year, and 46,559 such incidents in 2018. The number of farm fires was 43,149 in the state during the same period in 2017.

Notwithstanding the Haryana government’s claims of zero farm fires this year, the state has reported 46% rise in such incidents than the last year, forcing the authorities to ban the sale and use of fire crackers in 21 districts of the state during festivals.

As per the data released by the Haryana Space Applications Centre (HARSAC), the state has this year logged 8,831 active fire locations (AFLs) so far against the last year’s total 6,630 (from September 25 to November 30).

The number may go up further as the stubble burning is still going on with around 200 AFLs being reported in the state in the last 24 hours.

In a bid to aid the efforts of the Centre and State governments in containing air pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR) due to stubble burning, NTPC Limited had started procuring biomass pellets made from farm stubble.

The aim was to provide farmers an incentive for not burning the farm residue.

A Power Ministry statement said that NTPC had envisaged consumption of five million tonnes of pellets in the current year at its 17 power plants including NTPC Korba (Chhattisgarh), NTPC Farakka (West Bengal), NTPC Dadri (Uttar Pradesh), NTPC Kudgi (Karnataka), NTPC Sipat (Chhattisgarh), and NTPC Rihand (Uttar Pradesh).

But sector watchers say there is scope for much improvement to meet the desired ...

Delhi’s air quality turned “severe” on Saturday with stubble burning accounting for 32 percent of Delhi’s PM2.5 pollution and firecracker emissions making the situation even worse.

A layer of haze lingered over Delhi-NCR at night as people continued bursting firecrackers despite a ban, and calm winds allowing accumulation of pollutants.

The level of PM2.5 – which is about three percent the diameter of a human hair and can lead to premature deaths from heart and lung diseases – was 331 microgram per cubic metre (µg/m3) in Delhi-NCR at 10 pm, above the emergency threshold of 300 µg/m3.

It’s that time of year again. The time when, in the Indian capital of New Delhi, we shutter doors and windows to the grey-orange gloom and switch on our air purifiers, resigned to the deathly annual smog hanging over us, just like it has for years.

Cars, coal-fired power plants, and cookstoves keep New Delhi reliably near the top of the list of the world’s most polluted cities. But the haze is especially bad each autumn, when a cloud of smoke blows in from the northwestern states of Punjab and Haryana. Beginning in late September, rice farmers there burn their fields to clear them for the next crop, wheat.

Acknowledging that stubble burning has contributed to a dip in Delhi-NCR’s air quality, Dr M M Kutty, who was recently appointed the chairperson of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas, underlined the need to contain farm fires at the earliest. “There is no doubt that the region is witnessing more stubble burning incidents. According to our data, in Punjab, 62,844 farm fires were observed from September 21 to November 9 this year compared to 45,265 fires in 2019 during the same period. The air quality in the region has deteriorated because of the farm fires, which are a major contributor to pollutants. There is a need ...

Declaring that the Delhi government has succeeded in finding a solution to the menace of stubble burning, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said that the bio-decomposer trials have yielded the desired results. The solution, developed by the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI), Pusa, dissolves farm stubble turning them into manure.

Addressing the media during a virtual press conference, Kejriwal said that the Delhi government has tested the solution developed by IARI and that it has shown expected positive results.

The CM said that the bio-decomposer turns the farm residues into manure within 20 days after use.

Underlining that the chemical will be of great help in addressing the issue of air pollution in Delhi due ...

Buoyed by the success of biodecomposer technique, which converts stubble into manure, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kerjiwal on Friday said that the Delhi government would approach the Air Quality Commission (AQC) seeking directions for other states to adopt the method for prevention of crop residue. The CM said that the bio-decomposer technique developed by the Pusa Agricultural Institute has been a success and the study shows around 70-95% of stubble turns into manure.

“I have with me the report prepared by the scientists of the Pusa Research Institute, assessing the impact of the bio-decomposer technique in 24 villages across Delhi, on a sample basis. According to the scientists, around 70-95% of the stubble decomposed into ...

Every year around this time, the air quality index (AQI) levels in Delhi-NCR slip into the ‘severe’ category due to stubble burning in neighbouring states, and the government agencies get busy discussing the alternatives to end it, but in vain. This has become an episodic problem from October to mid-November for the last several years.

“The minute air pollution increased, Delhi had the highest number of Covid cases in one day – 7,000. International research has also shown that places with high pollution levels will have more Covid cases,” observes Jyoti Pande Lavakare, Co-Founder of Care for Air, who will soon release her book, Breathing Here is Injurious to your Health.

With 1,758 stubble burning incidents recorded in the last 24 hours till Thursday evening, the total count of farm fires in this paddy harvest season has reached 71,081. Stubble burning had started 53 days back in Punjab on September 21 and it continues unabated despite various measures taken by both state and central governments.

Teams of resistance group parties (RG party) will start keeping a vigil across New Town from Friday to prevent stubble burning that has been causing air pollution in the township. A meeting of stakeholders, including Eco Park management, police, local NGO and others, was held on Thursday to chalk out a plan as to how the teams will work. The stakeholders will be visiting a few spots for physical verification on Friday where stubble burning has been rampant.

The problem of stubble burning on paddy farms continues this year too despite various measures being undertaken by the Union and state governments.

As the stubble burning leads to air pollution and affects the national capital Delhi badly, the issue has assumed global significance with many embassies of nations such as the US, UK and others taking note of it in view of the health hazard it causes to its staff.

The district administration has imposed a fine of Rs 2,500 on four farmers for burning stubble in their fields in Shamli district, an official said on Wednesday.

According to Kairana Tehsildar Praveen Kumar, four farmers — Rajiv, Murari Singh, Aleem and Janisar — were found burning stubble in their fields on Tuesday.

Kumar said a fine of Rs 2,500 was imposed on each of them.

The share of stubble burning in Delhi’s air pollution rose to 42 percent on Thursday, the maximum so far this season, as city’s residents woke up to air quality in severe category, according to a central government’s air quality monitoring agency.

On Wednesday, stubble burning had contributed only five percent to Delhi’s pollution, 10 percent on Tuesday and 16 percent on Monday and 40 percent a day before. Last year, the farm fire contribution to Delhi’s pollution had peaked to 44 percent on November 1.

Capital city’s air quality index stood at 471 micrograms per cubic meter at noon, in severe category. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, all the 35 pollution monitoring station ...

With close to 3,000 stubble burning events in the 24 hours up to Wednesday evening, the total count of farm fires in Punjab so far this year reached 69,323. With the state just 52 days into crop residue burning season, the figure is expected to rise further and could be close to the highest-ever record of 82,000 cases, recorded in 2016.

Bathinda, with 450 burning events, had the higehst number of cases. It was followed by 338 in Fazilka, 331 in Moga, 311 in Sangrur, 295 in Muktsar, 262 in Mansa, 234 in Barnala, 220 in Faridkot, 182 in Ferozepur, 143 in Ludhiana, and 100 in Patiala. Pathankot and SAS Nagar were the ...

Stubble burning is something that is affecting our air quality in a big way. In fact, it always has, but now with pollution levels in Delhi NCR really becoming dangerous, the problem is even more serious.

The thick smoke resulting from it especially in areas in Punjab contributes to smog in the atmosphere which makes it difficult and sometimes near impossible to breathe. But the situation is not as bad as it looks, in fact, it is worse. The issue is that of proximity. A recent video went viral of someone driving through Punjab and showed that the distance between 2 stubble fires was less than a kilometre. In other words, in less than 1000 metres one has a source of thick ...

Large plumes of thick smoke billowing from agricultural fields and then extending onto highways are a common sight in rural Punjab every year.

When ThePrint traveled through various regions in the last week, fields after fields were found to have been set afire, leading to a thick blanket of smoke hanging in the air.

The farm fires were raging in Mansa, Sangrur and Patiala districts from 6-8 November. On 9 November, fewer fields in areas around Patiala district were set ablaze as this reporter made her way from Chandigarh to Sangrur.

Every winter, stubble burning in the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh during October-November leaves Delhi gasping for breath.

Stubble burning is the cheapest option ...

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has directed stone crushers and hot mix plants to remain closed till November 17 in view of high air pollution levels in Delhi-NCR.

Frequency of mechanised sweeping and water sprinkling on roads with high dust generating potential and guidelines and standard operating procedures for dust control at construction sites are strictly to be followed. In case of violations, a penalty will be imposed or construction activity will be stopped temporarily, CPCB said on Wednesday.

On Friday, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has asked the officials to make it certain that they do not harass the farmers when they take action against stubble burning.

The Uttar Pradesh administration has taken strict actions against farmers who have resorted to stubble burning. The Police have filed FIR’s against hundreds of farmers in lots of districts and arrested many of them too. Reports claim clashes between the police administration officials and farmers in several areas. The farmers have also alerted that they would launch a protest against the police action.

Come November, and the farms are on fire. It is a story that repeats year after year. But 2020 has been worse: The number of farm fires due to burning of paddy straw in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh has overtaken the counts of the last two years. And Delhi-NCR is choking on toxic air.

This is despite multiple moves, including a new commission to check pollution sources as well as stubble burning, formed by the Union government recently.

The Punjab government, too, had said it would provide 23,000 on-site crop residue management machines to farmers with a subsidy of 50 per cent to individual farmers and 80 per cent for cooperative societies ...

Despite the ‘severe’ Air Quality Index (AQI) in the Delhi-NCR region, farmers from the neighbouring state of Punjab continued to burn stubble on their fields. As of Tuesday, November, 10, the AQI of the national capital remained above 400, hitting the emergency levels. Farmers in Amritsar have claimed that the government has still not offered an affordable alternative to the stubble burning problem which is severely rising pollution levels in Delhi for several weeks. The farmers further revealed that they are forced to burn their stubble as they cannot afford the big machinery the government has provided as alternatives.

Singh further recommended that the government should set up an industry to produce something from the straw. “This way pollution can be reduced. Stubble burning, ...

The Unnao district administration has found a new way to put a check on stubble burning in the area.

A new scheme has been launched under which farmers will be given one trolley of bio-fertilizer in exchange for two trolleys of stubble.

According to District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar, farmers can go to any of the 135 cow shelters in the district and exchange the stubble for fertilizer.

He said that the scheme would not only check stubble burning but would also encourage use of bio fertilizers.

Farmers in Amritsar continued to burn stubble on their fields even as neighbouring Delhi choked with Air Quality Index (AQI) remaining well over 400, in the “severe” category, on Tuesday.

Despite several weeks of rising pollution levels, farmers claim that the government has still not offered an affordable alternative to the problem.

“We are compelled to burn the stubble as we don’t have any other alternative. We cannot afford the big machinery that the government offers as alternatives. The government should find a more concrete solution for this problem,” said Jerman Singh, a farmer from Amritsar’s Wadala village.

He suggested that the government should also set up an industry to produce something from the straw. “This ...

With 3,508 crop residue-burning events on Tuesday, the count of stubble burning cases so far this year reached 66,352 in Punjab. This is much more than the burning cases since 2017. Bathinda recorded the maximum 555 burning events, followed by 501 in Moga, 438 in Sangrur, 331 in Muktsar, 323 in Barnala, 298 in Mansa, 272 in Fazilka, 195 in Faridkot, 187 in Ludhiana, 171 in Ferozepur, and 127 in Patiala. Five districts did not record any burning case, whereas SBS Nagar recorded two, Rupnagar four and Kapurthala nine. In 2019, Punjab had recorded 49,628 stubble burning cases till November 9. In the corresponding period in 2018 and 2017, the state recorded 40,788 ...

The air quality of Delhi, Gurugram, and Noida worsened on Monday but continued to remain in the ‘severe’ category, according to data by the Central Pollution Board

The Capital’s air quality is likely to stay ‘severe’ on Tuesday with no quick recovery expected unless there is a “drastic reduction” in stubble burning in neighbouring States. It is expected to improve by Wednesday to ‘very poor’, said pollution-monitoring agency SAFAR.

The average 24-hour Air Quality Index (AQI) on Monday was 477 in Delhi, 482 in Gurugram and 477 in Noida. The AQI of Delhi and Noida was in the ‘severe’ category for the fifth straight day on Monday, and the third straight day in Gurugram.

Despite efforts to raise awareness not to burn stubble, farmers in the state continue to violate norms and are burning stubble, due to which the number of farm fires is increasing by the day.

Haryana has witnessed 7,712 cases of stubble burning this season between September 25 and November 8. On Sunday alone, 358 stubble-burning cases were reported across the state.

With 1,418 cases, Kaithal is leading the tally, followed by Fatehabad (1,260) and Karnal (1,020). Kurukshetra witnessed 831 cases, followed by Jind (816), Ambala (793), Yamunanagar (476), Sirsa (352), Hisar (241), Sonepat (127), Palwal (113), Panipat (80), Rohtak (79), Panchkula (33), Jhajjar (23), Bhiwani (17), Gurugram (8), Faridabad (8), Charkhi Dadri (5), Mahendragarh (4), Nuh ...

Stubble burning in Punjab has an insignificant impact on the air quality of Delhi, the National Capital Territory (NCT), says a study carried out by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC). The study, conducted for over a month—October 8 to November 4—of stubble burning in the state this year, maintains that there has been no correlation between the rising level of PM2.5 in Delhi’s air and the stubble burning in Punjab.

To stop the nuisance of stubble burning, which is causing heavy air pollution across New Town, the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) has decided to form air pollution resistance groups. The authorities discussed the matter with all stakeholders and decided that the officials and security staff of Eco Park will co-ordinate with bird watchers, local NGOs, police and locals to check stubble burning. “If anybody notices attempts to burn stubble, s/he will pass on the details with photos for quick action,” said an official.

The Unnao district administration has launched a unique barter scheme to find a permanent solution to the practice of stubble burning by farmers. “Under the scheme, the farmers will be provided one trolley of bio-fertiliser against the submission of two trolleys of stubble across 135 ‘gaushalas’,” district magistrate Ravindra Kumar informed TOI on Monday.

The skies of Bara village in Haryana’s Ambala district always wear a glum look around this time of year. One cannot miss the thick black smoke, coming out of the paddy fields, and the lung-choking smell, even from highway approaching the village. But this year the frame appears a bit different. The sky has a blue tinge. For, the Bara farmers have found buyers for their paddy straw. They are not burning them anymore.

new delhi: The national Capital’s air quality was recorded in the ‘severe’ category on Sunday as stubble fires continued to be reported in Punjab and nearby regions. According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) mobile app SAMEER, Delhi’s overall air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 426 which falls in the ‘severe’ category. The Ministry of Earth Sciences’ air quality monitor System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) said the situation was unlikely to improve unless a drastic reduction takes place in stubble fire counts. “Surface winds have become calm, which were moderate so far, and are forecasted to stay low in magnitude for the next two days. This is the major ...

Punjab has recorded 6,318 new incidents of stubble burning on Saturday alone. The highest number of 952 incidents was recorded in the Sangrur district. The state had recorded 37,777 incidents in 2017, 33,687 in 2018 and 45,114 in 2019. As per data released by Ludhiana based Remote Sensing Centre, this year, the state has already recorded 59,228 cases irrespective of the ban on stubble burning and steps taken by central and state governments.

Despite efforts to raise awareness about the environmental impacts, farmers are claiming that hiring or purchasing machines like combine harvest, super seeders, and super straw management systems to manage crops is a costly deal for them. Burning ...

Two Ambala villages, Bara and Ugara, have not reported even a single incident of stubble burning this year as 95% paddy farmers from these areas are making money by selling straw.

Under a project launched in October, bales of straw are piled up in Ugara’s panchayat land to be supplied to the Naraingarh Sugar Mill in Shahazadpur for power generation.

Both villages situated adjacent to National Highway-44, have young and educated sarpanches who are working together to ensure the success of the project.

An engineer and a postgraduate

Bara sarpanch Vikas Behgal is an engineer and his counterpart from Ugara, Harinder Kaur, has completed her postgraduation.

“Farmers came to us every day to register their land ...

A day after entering the red zone for the first time this season, Delhi’s air quality continued to remain in the ‘severe’ category on Friday for the second consecutive day, despite a marginal improvement in the measurement index because of a slight increase in wind speed.

Scientists at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the rising number of stubble burning cases in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana has been the primary factor behind the Capital’s foul air — contributing to 21% of Delhi’s PM 2.5 levels on Friday.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data recorded the overall air quality index (AQI) of Delhi on Friday at 406, in the ‘severe’ category. Even though ...

very year, when winter sets in, Delhi’s air pollution peaks with the air quality index (AQI) often plunging to the ‘severe’ and ‘hazardous’ categories. On Thursday, the national capital recorded an AQI of 452, which is considered ‘severe’ and can also impact healthy individuals.

Experts have also pointed out that worsening air quality can make the Covid-19 pandemic deadlier. A recent study cited a direct link between 30 per cent of the total Covid deaths in the world and air pollution.

A major reason behind the spike in Delhi’s air pollution is stubble burning by farmers in Punjab and Haryana, which increased to about 42 per cent Thursday — the highest it has been this season.

In the last 46 days, close to ...

Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Saturday appealed to the Uttar Pradesh government to make farmers aware about stubble burning and its impact on air pollution, before initiating any action against them.

In a tweet in Hindi, Mayawati said, “The atrocities on farmers in the garb of pollution caused due to stubble burning in UP is extremely condemnable. The government before taking any action against farmers, should make them aware and give them necessary assistance. This is the demand of the BSP.”

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar virtually inaugurated a compressed biogas demonstration plant in Pune for biomass production during a meeting held to discuss “steps taken for prevention of air pollution in Delhi-NCR with emphasis on finding a permanent solution” on Friday.

“Government is taking all steps to combat air pollution in Delhi and North India and we will be using all possible technological interventions towards that. We have launched a demonstration plant virtually at Pune which produces compressed biogas from biomass,” Javadekar tweeted.

“It’s my pleasure to be present on this occasion. Such technology (biogas plant) will take care of the issue of stubble burning especially in North India,” Prakash Javadekar said.

According to an official ...

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday declared that the bio-composing solution developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute at Pusa and referred to as the “Pusa Decomposer” has proved to be a success in addressing the problem of stubble burning. He also urged other states like Punjab and Haryana to implement it and hoped that “this is the last year when we have to suffer from (air) pollution”.

Following a visit to Hiranki village in North West Delhi, where a pilot project was undertaken to check the efficacy of the bio-decomposer, Kejriwal said, “To provide an alternative to stubble burning, the Delhi government has taken a crucial step in association with the PUSA Institute. We had ...

The air pollution has become a major health hazard but policymakers in India are unable to find a concrete solution to this ever-increasing menace in the wake of stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana. The Government of India has already launched the National Clean Air Programme in January 2019 to reduce pollution levels by 30 to 40 per cent till 2024, but it has failed make any mark while nearly two years has already elapsed.

Raging farm fires and a fall in the wind speed and temperatures pushed air quality in Delhi-NCR to the worst levels in around a year on Thursday, and the share of stubble burning in Delhi’s pollution rose to 42 per cent, the ...

The share of stubble burning in Delhi’s pollution dropped to 10 per cent on Tuesday due to a change in the wind direction, according to a central government forecasting agency. The Ministry of Earth Sciences’ air quality monitor, SAFAR, said 3,068 farm fires were spotted over Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand on Monday.

After slight improvement, Delhi’s air on Tuesday deteriorated and touched the outer margins of the ‘very poor’ category.

Even though farm fires continued raging in Punjab and Haryana, with more than 3,000 cases being spotted on Tuesday again, a change in the wind direction helped keep the share of stubble fumes on the city’s pollution under check.

At a time when stubble burning incidents in Haryana have already crossed last year’s figure by over 1,000 cases for the corresponding period, the state is also witnessing a sharp decline in the air quality of its cities. All Haryana cities except Panchkula have an AQI which is either in the ‘poor’ or the ‘very poor’ category. Some places in the state have AQI which falls in the ‘severe’ category too.

“It might be due to multiple factors like low wind speed, low temperature and emission sources including burning of crop residue,” Haryana State Pollution Control Board Member Secretary S Narayanan told The Indian Express Friday.

Jind, Bahadurgarh, Charkhi Dadri and Dharuhera in Haryana have already entered ...