E-Paper
US institute to help Punjab manage stubble, signs MoU
As per the MoU signed for support on a pro bono basis, with the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST), IGSD, will develop an action plan to assist the state in developing a pilot project in an area of state’s choice, identify business model for attracting private and public capital for the implementation of the strategies and inputs for the state action plan for climate change, short-lived climate pollutants
The Punjab government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Institute of Governance and Sustainable Development (IGSD), Washington, US, to cut down non-carbon dioxide emission, particularly emitted from burning of paddy stubble, during the kharif harvest in October-November months.
As per the MoU signed for support on a pro bono basis, with the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST), IGSD, will develop an action plan to assist the state in developing a pilot project in an area of state’s choice, identify business model for attracting private and public capital for the implementation of the strategies and inputs for the state action plan for climate change, short-lived climate pollutants.
According to India chapter director of IGSD Zerin Osho, a proposal was mooted in May and Punjab has become the first state to accept it. Zerin said there is a need for ‘cradle to grave’ analysis of the problem for which IGSD will assist the Punjab government.
Zerin said IGSD will involve research on the matter and suggest state government the solutions to the problem, which concerns every household and the entire population living in the region. In the past five years from 2018 to 2022, the Centre has given a grant of ₹1,370 crore to the state government for supplying subsidised machinery to the farmers for in situ management of paddy stubble but the results are far from the expectation as in 2022, 49,000 cases of stubble burning were recorded.
