‘Neighbouring states ready to try bio-decomposer for stubble pollution’: Delhi minister Gopal Rai

“Neighbouring states have said that they're ready for the experiment of bio-decomposer to tackle stubble burning, However, there is a lack in the action plan,” Gopal Rai said.

Following a meeting between the Union ministry of environment and the states in the National Capital Region (NCR), Delhi’s environment minister Gopal Rai on Thursday said that the neighbouring states have expressed willingness to experiment with bio-decomposer to tackle the stubble burning issue. However, the minister also said that there is a lack of action plan.

“The Central and the concerned State Governments should prepare for [the] sprinkling of bio-decomposer on a war footing as a measure,” Gopal Rai said. (ANI)

Rai made the remarks after the Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav chaired a meeting with the environment ministers and state officials of the NCR states namely Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab.

“Neighbouring states have said that they're ready for the experiment of bio-decomposer to tackle stubble burning, However, there is a lack in the action plan,” Rai said after the meeting, news agency ANI reported.

Further, during a press conference, Rai also said that the neighbouring states and the central government should prepare for spraying bio-decomposer on a war footing to tackle the pollution due to stubble burning. “To solve the problem of stubble pollution, the Delhi government will spray bio-de-composer in about 4,000 acres of agricultural area free of cost. The Central and the concerned State Governments should prepare for [the] sprinkling of bio-decomposer on a war footing as a measure,” he said.

Last week, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal too had said that the air quality in the national capital will deteriorate from the middle of October as the state governments have not taken action to support their farmers. His government has been pushing for the adoption of Pusa bio-decomposer, a microbial solution for stubble, to be distributed for free to the farmers in the neighbouring states.

Among other measures to curb pollution in the region, Rai said that he has requested Union minister Yadav to facilitate CNG (compressed natural gas) powered public transport in NCR. In addition, he has also asked for the banning of firecrackers during the festival of Diwali in the neighbouring states too. Notably, Kejriwal had already announced that the sale, storage and usage of firecrackers would not be allowed in Delhi during Diwali this year too.

The meeting came a day after the World Health Organization revised its guidelines for the global air quality standards, providing evidence for the damage that air pollution causes to human health. The guidelines also recommend new air quality levels to protect the health by reducing the levels of some major pollutants that also contribute to climate change.