Kejriwal launches bio-decomposer solution, says states must work together against pollution

Kejriwal said that if the Delhi government can make efforts to prevent stubble burning, so can other state governments.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said state governments should stop blaming each other and work together to find a solution to the problem of stubble burning, one of the major contributors to air pollution Delhi-NCR during winters.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal sprinkles bio-decomposer solution on a field during its launch as an preventive measure against stubble (Paraali) burning, at Hiranki Village, in New Delhi. (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO)

Kejriwal, who was launching the first batch of the bio-decomposer solution developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), which promises to turn crop residue into manure without having to burn the stubble, said that while farmers of neighbouring states and people of Delhi are bearing the brunt of stubble burning, “governments have shut their eyes”.

“State governments should stop blaming each other. We have to work together to find a solution to the issue. All agencies and governments need to take it seriously now,” Kejriwal said at the Hiranki village in Narela, where the spraying of Pusa bio-decomposer solution started on Tuesday.

Kejriwal said that if the Delhi government can make efforts to prevent stubble burning, so can other state governments.

“When the process was in its initial phase, I made attempts to contact the Central government and if they wanted, they could have worked with us to address the issue,” he said.

“We got to know about the technology developed by the Pusa Institute in September, and so did they. We have to work together with sincerity,” he said.

The bio-decomposer developed by Pusa Institute was sprayed free of cost in around 800 hectares of land in Delhi where non-basmati rice is grown.

“While the farmers of neighbouring states and the people of Delhi are bearing the brunt of stubble burning, governments have shut their eyes. I hope that they take concrete steps so that the entire north India gets rid of high levels of air pollution,” he said.