Karnal, Haryana:
With pollution level rising in the national capital region, the Delhi government reached out to governments of Punjab and Haryana stating that paddy-burning in these states is contributing to the high pollution levels in the city. NDTV travelled to Karnal in Haryana to do a reality check of the steps taken by the government to curb this problem.
The otherwise green landscape of Karnal was shrouded in smoke when we reached the spot and no official was seen around. "We have been given no alternative to burning crops. We are tenant-farmers and cannot afford the extra labour charge to remove these stubbles manually," said a farmer who spoke to NDTV on condition of anonymity.
According to guidelines issued by the Haryana government, farmers found burning paddy can be fined between Rs 2,500-15,000, according to the area of their land. Officials monitoring the areas are supposed to inform the district authorities within 30 mins of a fire breaking out.
Manually removing the stubble takes much longer and farmers can't waste time as they have to clear the fields as soon as possible to sow seeds for the next cropping season.
"We'd much rather pay the 2500 rupee fine as the alternative will turn out to be much more expensive", said another farmer.
The government says that educating farmers is a key step in curbing the problem.
"It is not possible for one department to curb the practice, several departments are working together to bring it down", said Shrikant Walgad, Chairman of the Haryana Pollution Control Board when asked why the steps taken were not proving to be effective.
The government has issued notices to 360 farmers so far, but the fines seems to be far from a deterrent.