Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday visited the Hiranki Village in the Narela constituency to inspect the efficacy of the bio-decomposing solution developed under the guidance of the PUSA Institute and sprayed by the Delhi Government on the farmlands across the national Capital.
The Delhi Government has launched different campaigns to combat winter air pollution as on Tuesday also the overall Air Quality Index ( AQI ) was at 333 while stubble burning contribution in Particular Matters ( PM( 3.5 was only 5 percent .
Citing farm fire a major worry recorded 40 percent in few days earlier, Kejriwal said
where the practice of stubble burning is prevalent, should implement the alternative without any excuses.
“The farmers are highly distressed due to the absence of alternatives to stubble burning, due to which they are left with no option but to burn stubble and bear the brunt of pollution,” he said.
Briefing media after his visit, he said, “Every year, the smoke from stubble burning pollutes Delhi. The media reports and satellite images show that the practice of stubble burning is quite prevalent in the neighbouring states of Delhi, especially Punjab.”
On one hand, the farmers are themselves very troubled because their families and the villages have to bear the brunt of pollution.
The neighbouring state governments have done nothing to provide relief to the farmers, because of which the farmers are forced to burn stubble which leads to major pollution across Northern India. To provide an alternative to stubble burning, the Delhi government has taken a crucial step in association with the PUSA Institute. We had sprayed the bio-decomposer solution on the farmlands across Delhi around October 13, which was developed by the Delhi government under the guidance of the PUSA Institute. Today is November 4, the entire stubble has converted into manure and the fields are ready for sowing again. Delhi, along with the PUSA Institute, has given a cheap and effective alternative to stubble burning. I hope that this is the last year when we have to suffer from pollution. No government can make any excuse, they should stop agonizing their farmers. I have spoken to several farmers in Punjab and Haryana, and I know that they do not want to burn stubble anymore. We would present this alternative in front of the Supreme Court owing to the effectiveness of this alternative.
“The farmers and the scientists of the PUSA Institute are very satisfied with the output of the solution. No government can make an excuse that they have no alternative or solution to the problem of stubble burning, because a very cheap alternative is available. We have sprayed the solution across Delhi in just Rs. 20 lakhs."
CM Kejriwal said, "I have been trying to meet the Union Environment Minister for a long time now. Around 15 days before starting the bio-decomposing process in Delhi, I wrote to the Union Environment Minister and sought an appointment to meet him to discuss the alternative. He must have been busy, and so I talked to him on the phone. I told him that we might be late in providing this alternative to the farmers, the Centre must try and stop stubble burning as much as they can in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.”
Meanwhile, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said this year also, the spike in pollution is due to the massive stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana. Last month under the leadership of Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi government started sprinkling the bio-decomposer and today we have witnessed that 90 percent of the stubble has converted to manure. It shows how effective this process is. We believe that the central government and the state governments should also implement this method."