1,617 cases of stubble burning detected in state

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 18

Despite causing massive damage to the environment with stubble burning, Haryana farmers are unwilling to pay the fine.

The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has detected 1,617 cases of stubble burning, but only 709 farmers have paid the fine for violation of environmental norms.

Karnal tops the list with 308 cases, followed by Sirsa with 255 and Jind 253. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the HSPCB to prepare a special plan to combat pollution.

The HSPCB has decided to take legal action against all those farmers who have refused to pay the fine for environmental violations.

Though the Haryana Government has imposed a ban and repeatedly directed farmers not to burn stubble, farmers have claimed that they do not have any mechanism to deal with stubble.

The number of violations detected by the HSPCB has been rising after the NGT passed strict directions against air pollution and directed both Punjab and Haryana to form special state-level committees to control air pollution.

“Claims of the Haryana Government to provide subsidised happy seeder and other equipment to deal with paddy stubble are only on paper as only a few got it. What can we do with stubble if we do not have the required equipment?” said Anil, a young farmer in Jind.

The authorities had imposed a fine of Rs 2,42,500 in 66 cases of violation in Jind district. Till November 6, the Haryana authorities had initiated action against a total of 1,400 farmers and imposed a fine of around Rs 13.5 lakh.

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests conducted a meeting on Thursday to implement NGT directions and senior HSPCB officials shared their plans to combat air pollution.

The NGT directed Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and New Delhi on November 10 to form state-level committees to prepare special plan to control air pollution.

Each state committee included the Chief Secretary, Secretary for Environment, Secretary for Urban Development and Housing, HSPCB Member Secretary, chairman of the state development authority and Director Medical Services.

“It is the first time so many cases of stubble burning have been detected. A meeting of our state-level committee will be held in New Delhi on November 24. We have started work to prepare a special plan against pollution,” said S Narayanan, Member Secretary of the HSPCB.