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Delhi LG writes to Punjab, Haryana CMs over stubble burning, pollution in Capital
The LG's letter focused on mitigating air pollution in the national capital territory and highlighted the concern of stubble burning.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena on Saturday wrote to Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on the issue of stubble burning and farm fires as the air quality deteriorates in the national capital region ahead of the winter season.
The LG's letter focused on mitigating air pollution in the national capital territory and highlighted the concern of stubble burning, a practice widely adopted by farmers in these states which results in the engulfment of Delhi by the smog/smoke.
In the letter addressed to Khattar and Mann, LG Saxena wrote, “In Delhi, along with all stakeholders, we are taking all steps to ensure that local causes of air pollution like vehicular emissions and dust from the roads / pavements are fully addressed, I urge you to galvanize all available resources and make the farmers willing partners in defeating this deadly menace.”
He raised a concern over the worrisome situation as the incidents of crop residue burning events in Haryana reached 340 last month, 257 more than the figure of 83 in the corresponding period during 2022, while in Punjab, the number touched 1063, 300 more than last year's corresponding period number.
He underlined the fact that Delhi is home to over two crore people and houses important complexes including Supreme Court, parliament house and global embassies. The smog and debilitating air pollution creates a diminishing international image and standing on the envoys who visit the national capital India for summits and conferences.
Over frequent parali burning incidents in Punjab, Saxena wrote to Mann, "You may recall that last year when I had written to you regarding the same issue on 03.11.2022, Delhi was choking under pollution caused by smoke from across its borders and in the preceding period between 24.10.2022 and 02.11.2022, there had been an increase of 19% in the incident of parali burning, in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year. You would also recall that, last year, of the five States that affect Delhi's air quality, Punjab had remained the only non-performing outlier."
Meanwhile, in Delhi, the AAP government on Friday launched a drive for spraying bio-decomposer in paddy fields in the capital to prevent stubble burning.
According to the union environment ministry, the maximum share of farm fires in Delhi's PM2.5 pollution stood at 34% on November 3 last year and 48% on November 7, 2021.
