Air quality heads south in Harayana

KARNAL: Despite efforts by the Haryana government to check burning of paddy stubble, farmers continue to set crop residue in their fields on fire as it is the "easiest and fastest way to ready the fields". This has resulted in deterioration of the air quality in the state to "very poor" in certain parts.


As many as 3,978 incidents of stubble burning have been reported from September 25 till October 28 in the state.

The crop firing is going on. If 255 cases of stubble burning were reported on Sunday, 243 such instances were recorded on Monday.

Fatehabad district reported the highest number of cases at 144 on Sunday and Monday followed by Kaithal (90), Karnal (55), Sirsa (53), Kurukshetra (39) and Jind (38) incidents.

Kaithal distinct has crossed Karnal with the highest number of paddy stubble burning cases since September 25 at 864, followed by Karnal (843), Kurukshetra (667), Fatehabad (490), Ambala (281) and Jind (199).

According to the data, 58 FIRs were filed in Karnal until Monday.

The rise in the number of crop firing cases is also affecting the air quality of the state and pushing up pollution levels. The air quality index (AQI) in many districts of Haryana was recorded up to 340 on Tuesday, which falls in the very poor category.

Vikram Singh, a small farmer, said they were unable to afford the high cost of machinery to manage crop residue and there was a very short window between harvesting paddy and sowing of wheat. "The easiest and fastest way to prepare the fields for the next crop is to burn paddy stubble," he said.

Another farmers Ramphal said, "The solution is not as simple as claimed by the officials. The government should plan projects to put the residue to commercial use."

Rattan Mann, president, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), Haryana said the farmers do not want to burn stubble but the alternatives for managing crop residue were very costly. "A small farmer cannot afford it. Therefore farmers are forced to burn the crop stubble. The government should provide a cheaper alternative to farmers," he said.

"The department is making efforts to motivate farmers to ensure that stubble burning stops. We must ensure strict compliance with the law. As many as 58 FIRs were filed till Monday in Karnal, said district deputy director of agriculture (DDA) Aditya Dabas.

Further, he said direct sowing of wheat could be done easily by using the happy seeder, which leads to saving of both time and money. Individual farmers are being given 50% subsidy for purchase of happy seeder, paddy straw chopper, mulcher, hydraulic reversible MB plough, zero till drill and super SMS rotary slasher/shrub cutter.