Punjab, Haryana commit to ‘eliminate’ stubble burning this winter

Twomillion tonnes of paddy strawwould be ‘co-fired’ in 11 thermal power plantsacross the NCR region

Weeks ahead of the onset of winter in India, both Punjab and Haryana have promised to “eliminate” stubble burning this year, the Centre said in a statement on Monday (September 23, 2024).

P.K. Mishra, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, chaired a high-level task force meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to assess plans to address deteriorating air quality in Delhi-NCR.

Also read: Stubble trouble | Decoding the smog blanket over Delhi

The meeting focused on evaluating current efforts to tackle pollution from various sources, including paddy stubble burning, vehicular emissions, road and construction dust, solid waste management, and diesel generator (DG) sets.

Rajesh Verma, Chairman, Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) reported at the meeting that 19.52 million tonnes of paddy straw in Punjab and 8.10 million tonnes in Haryana were likely to result following harvesting. “Both States have committed to eliminating stubble burning this year. Punjab plans to manage 11.5 million tonnes of its paddy straw through in-situ (on the field) crop residue management and the rest via ex-situ methods. Haryana will similarly manage 3.3 million tonnes in-situ and use ex-situ methods for the remainder. Over 1.50 lakh crop residue management (CRM) machines will be available in Punjab, supported by 24,736 Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs), while Haryana has 90,945 CRM machines supported by 6,794 CHCs,” said a press statement by the Environment Ministry.

In addition to this, twomillion tonnes of paddy strawwould be ‘co-fired’ in 11 thermal power plantsacross the NCR region. Co-firing refers to turning the straw into pellets that can be used as a source of carbon.

Dr. Mishra instructed Chief Secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh to rigorously monitor and implement action plans aimed at eliminating stubble burning as committed in their action plans.

The meeting was attended by Cabinet Secretary Dr.T.V Somanathan, Delhi Police Commissioner and key officials from the Ministries of Environment, Agriculture, Power, Petroleum, Road Transport, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Animal Husbandry, along with representatives from theCentral Pollution Control Board (CPCB), State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs), and the Chief Secretaries and their representatives from the States of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi.

Published - September 23, 2024 10:20 pm IST