New Delhi: The blame game over rise in air pollution level in the national capital region (NCR) escalated further on Thursday as the Centre has put the onus on Punjab government for not following the best practices suggested by the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and adjoining areas.
Citing the findings of a report on comparative figures of stubble burning incidents for the years 2021 and 2022, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav has claimed that the instances of stubble burning has increased by 21 per cent in Punjab in 2022 during September 15 to October 31 in compare to such instances in the corresponding period in 2021.
Holding the Punjab government responsible for not adopting best practices to control stubble burning, the Union Minister said, "The state government has out rightly refused to spray Pusa decomposer, which is developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), by stating that it's ineffective. The state government has not submitted any scientific study to authenticate its claims."
In contrary to Punjab, the neighbouring states like Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have performed well in bringing down the instances of stubble burning as such incidents have been reduced by 31 per cent in Haryana in 2022.
As per the comparative figures issued by the ministry, Punjab reported 16,004 incidents of stubble burning in 2022 during September 15 to October 31, while the state had reported 13,269 such instances during the same period in 2021.
Similarly, Haryana reported 1,995 incidents of stubble burning in 2022, while the BJP-ruled state had reported 2,914 such instances in the previous year. In Uttar Pradesh (NCR), the instances of stubble burning reduced to 33 in 2022 from 51 such incidents in the previous year. The Rajasthan (NCR) has reported just one incident of stubble burning from September 15 to October 31 in 2022 from two such instances in 2021.
Surprisingly, in Delhi, the stubble burning incidents have increased from zero in 2021 to five in 2022.
As per the minister, Pusa decomposer is a proven technology that accelerates the decomposition process of stubble by turning it into manure over a period of 15-20 days thereby reducing the need to clear the fields of stubble by burning as witnessed every year during the winter months.