Stubble burning is not a hobby for us, says Punjab CM at HTLS
Charanjit Singh Channi made the remarks while speaking with Hindustan Times’ national political editor Sunetra Choudhury on the last day of HTLS 2021.
Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi said on Saturday farmers must be paid to stop the practice of stubble burning, which has in the past led to rising pollution levels in Delhi and neighbouring areas.
“I will request you to tell Modiji that stubble burning is not our hobby. I do stop people [from burning stubble] but this time the scale has been low,” Charanjit Singh Channi said while speaking with Hindustan Times’ national political editor Sunetra Choudhury on the last day of HTLS 2021.
“Farmers must be paid to collect and destroy the waste. This is the proper solution. After that, farmers will not be able to say why they have been burning the stubble because they will be paid for that,” he added.
Also read | This is a new era, Congress also adapting: Charanjit Singh Channi at HTLS
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (Nasa) satellite data analysed by an environmental think-tank shows that this year is set to be the worst year in terms of the total number of fires recorded in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in the last five years.
The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), which looked at stubble burning data from the three states between October 1 and November 28, found that there have been 90,984 fires cumulatively in the three states this year, almost 7,000 more than last year’s 84,525.
Also read | Not a single Congress MLA went with Captain, says Punjab CM Channi
To be sure, a bulk of these fires came from Punjab.
Punjab has so far recorded 76,427 fires, up from last year’s figure of 74,183 and behind only 2016 (86,379). Similarly, Haryana’s count of 9,869 fires is significantly up from last year’s count of 5,335 fires, but behind 2016 (13,130).