Over 35% decline in stubble burning cases in Haryana

Stubble burning incidents have come down drastically during the Kharif harvesting season due to the joint effort of authorities and farmers, claim officials of the

Stubble burning incidents have come down drastically during the Kharif harvesting season due to the joint effort of authorities and farmers, claim officials of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB).

With 12.50 lakh hectares under paddy, Haryana is the second biggest producer of paddy waste in the country, after neighbouring Punjab (HT PHOTO)

As per HSPCB figures, this year 6,630 cases were recorded as compared to 10, 288 cases reported in 2018. Even the area under farm fires had come down by 35% as compared to last year. The number of stubble burning cases reported between November 6 and 24 were 1,408 as compared to 4,135 cases during the same period in 2018.

Pointing out the factors behind the sharp decline in stubble burning cases, HSPCB member secretary S Narayanan said, “Reduction in stubble burning cases is due to multiple factors including enforcement, distribution of eco-friendly harvesting equipments, activities increasing awareness of farmers and general public and cooperation of farmers”

“I think our specific focus on villages with maximum cases of stubble burning yielded good results as we managed to make the farmers aware about the benefits of not burning crop waste,” he added.

Last November, the Supreme Court had asked Haryana and Punjab to reward farmers who refrained from stubble burning. As per officials in the state agriculture department, most incidents of stubble burning are reported in major paddy growing districts of Karnal, Kaithal, Kurukshetra and Fatehabad and more efforts were required to bring down these cases.

“The dip in the number of cases is a big achievement and is a result of efforts of the state government. But the real challenge is to put a complete check on stubble burning. This year, around 270 farmers of Karnal were booked for stubble burning and 29 farmers arrested in Fatehabad,” said a senior official of Haryana agriculture department.