Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on October 18 said that the issue of stubble burning is not restricted to any particular state, but is something that affects the whole of Northern India. He called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene, asking if the PM can stop the Ukraine war, can he not stop the smoke here?
“The issue of stubble burning is not limited to any one state. It is the issue of the whole of the Northern India. If PM Modi can stop the Ukraine war like they showed in the ad, can they not stop the smoke here? He should make all the states sit together, give compensation, call scientists,” Mann said.
He said the farmers do not want to burn stubble or even cultivate paddy but are forced to because MSP is not available on alternative crops. “The farmers don't want to burn stubble. The farmers don't even want to cultivate paddy but MSP is not available on an alternative crop... When the paddy is produced the farmers are praised, but what about the stubble? Then they want to charge a fine...” the Punjab Chief Minister said.
“We don't know if Punjab’s smoke reaches Delhi or not but the smoke harms the farmer and his village first...,” he added.
Mann then went on to point out that his government has been asking for compensation to stop the stubble burning but the Centre has not heeded to it and instead, told them to encourage farmers against it. “Encouragement does not work; practical steps need to be taken... We have given 1.25 lakhs machines. We have spoken to NGOs. Out of 75 lakh hectares of paddy crop, stubble of 40 lakhs has not been burnt...”
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has alleged that the Central government data reveals that stubble burning in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are “major contributors” to air pollution in Delhi.
The AAP governments in Delhi and Punjab are the only ones that are reducing pollution and providing relief to the people, party leader Jasmine Shah had said on October 16.
In the period between October 1-14, Shah claimed that in comparison to last year, there was a 27 percent reduction in incidents of stubble burning in Punjab this year, while such incidents increased in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
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