The agriculture minister has appealed to four major north Indian states including Punjab to take measures to control stubble burning.
Stubble burning incidents have been managed by the states utilizing funds and machines provided by the central government since 2018.
A state should strive to curb stump burning, he said, since it isn’t a “political issue”.
In his remarks, the minister urged state governments and farmers to make use of more PUSA decomposers, developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
It is a cause for concern that stubble burning incidents are rising despite crores of rupees and two lakh machines being provided, Tomar said.
Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have received Rs 3,138 crores from the Central government for managing stubble burning since 2018-19. There were over Rs 1,400 crores allocated to Punjab, Rs 900 crores to Haryana, Rs 713 crores to Uttar Pradesh, and Rs 6-7 crores to Delhi, he said.
There are some states, particularly Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, that have made good progress and are moving in the right direction.
Thereafter, about two lakh decomposer machines were made available to the states,” he said. Decomposer machines were believed to have effectively controlled stubble burning at the time.
Tomar told reporters on the sidelines of the event that these machines could help control stubble burning if the states are determined to use them.