Chandigarh, October 11 – The concrete steps taken by Manohar Lal led government to mitigate air pollution levels caused by stubble burning in Haryana have once again gained praise from the Environment Ministry.
Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Sh. Bhupender Yadav while chairing the meeting on crop residue management and air pollution control in the Delhi-NCR region today said that dedicated efforts of the state government to decrease the stubble burning graph have certainly yielded positive results.
The meeting which was held through video conferencing was attended by Chief Minister; Sh. Manohar Lal, ministers and higher officials of various departments from Delhi, Punjab and Rajasthan.
“Haryana has also laid special emphasis on reducing the increasing pollution levels as a result of which there has been a drastic reduction in the use of diesel run-generators in housing societies of Gurugram,” added Sh. Bhupender Yadav.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister assured Sh. Bhupender Yadav that to ensure stubble management in the state, various schemes are being implemented effectively at the ground level.
While putting forth his demand before Sh. Bhupender Yadav, the Chief Minister said that the deadline given to the brick kilns regarding the use of clean fuel in the Haryana NCR region should be extended till March 31, 2023.
Sh. Manohar Lal further ensured Sh. Bhupender Yadav that the State Government will also give more impetus to the efforts already being taken to control air pollution.
While sharing the demand raised by the industrial organizations regarding the high cost of using clean fuel, the Chief Minister urged the Union Minister for making a provision to provide a loan facility from the bank at a viable rate of interest to the industrialist for setting up the technologies required for use of clean fuel.
The Chief Minister also urged Sh. Bhupender Yadav to ensure the CNG-PNG supply in the industrial areas of Haryana NCR region like Israna, Samalkha, Gohana, Jhajjar etc at the earliest.
Haryana has formulated a special framework for stubble management
The Chief Minister said that to control stubble burning, the State Government has implemented a framework which includes In-situ Crop Residue Management, Ex-situ Management, Effective monitoring, enforcement and wide reach of Information Education and Communication (IEC) activities.
He informed that in Haryana paddy is grown in about 4800 villages and the villages have been divided into three colour zones namely green, yellow and red.
Under In-situ management, 23 lakh MT crop residues will be utilized through various machines and decomposers and 13 MT crop residues will be utilized under ex-situ management. So far only 83 incidents of stubble burning have taken place. Farmers are being continuously made aware of the ill effects of stubble burning, informed the Chief Minister.
Plans are being made to procure Paddy Straw on MSP
The Chief Minister said that soon a tender would also be floated for the use of 20 lakh MT of torrefied biomass pellets in the thermal plant. Working in the direction of finding a permanent solution for stubble management, the State government is also making a plan to buy Paddy straw at MSP. This will directly benefit the farmers along with giving them an option of earning additional income.
This year, 7146 machines have been made available for stubble management
Sh. Manohar Lal said that a total of 72,777 machines have been provided to farmers through CHCs and individually for stubble management in the last 4 years. However, this year only, 7146 machines have been made available, these include baling unit, super seeder, zero till seed cum fertilizer drill etc.
An incentive amount of Rs. 1000 per acre to farmers for bailing (In-Situ Management) is being given by the State Government and along with transportation charges of bales at Rs. 500 per acre limited to a maximum of Rs. 15,000 to Gaushalas. Special provision for additional top-up assistance of Rs. 500/MT in addition to the current provision of assistance at Rs. 500/MT thereby, a total of Rs. 1000/MT is being provided to the cluster identified by IOCL for 2G ethanol plant for supply of roughly 2 lakh MT residue management, informed the Chief Minister.
This festive season, only green crackers will be allowed in Haryana
The Chief Minister informed while strictly adhering to the orders of the Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal (NGT) to control air pollution in the NCR region, Haryana State Pollution Control Board has prohibited the manufacturing, sale and use of all kinds of firecrackers except for green crackers.
Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, Dr. Sumita Misra, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment and Climate Change Department, Sh. Vineet Garg, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. V. Umashankar, Principal Secretary, Transport Department, Sh. Navdeep Virk, Chairman, Haryana State Pollution Control Board. Sh. P Raghavendra Rao, Director General, Agriculture Department, Sh Hardeep Singh, Deputy Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. K. Makarand Pandurang and officers also remained present on this occasion.