Stubble burning in several states of the country has led to a spike in air pollution levels in entire Northern India in general and Delhi-NCR in particular. However, a Haryana farmer, with his applaudable move to curb pollution, has vindicated that stubble can be the source of income and not pollution.
Stubble burning becomes the source of income
Ramkumar, a farmer from Kaithal, Haryana has stepped in with an exemplary move to deal with the problem of pollution caused by stubble burning. Turning the stubble management into a business, Ramkumar collects the stubble by using a machine and then sells it to paper mills. The process has led him to earn Rs 50 lakhs in the paddy season. Adding up to it, he has also provided employment to 300 people.
Haryana: A farmer in Kaithal says he employs 300 people in stubble management business, earns Rs 50 lakhs in a paddy season
"I collect straw with the help of 12 bailers (that make straw bundles), some of them purchased with govt subsidy, & sell it to paper mills," Ramkumar says pic.twitter.com/AS0peHHbCX
— ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2021
While interacting with the media, Ramkumar said, “I bought 3 machines in 2018 with the help of the government. Now with the help of Agriculture Department, 12 machines have been bought and 300 people have been given employment. This is not a difficult task, with the help of Agriculture Department other farmers can also buy machines and collect the stubble. This will also not cause pollution.”
NASA shared images of farm fires
On Friday, American space agency NASA shared images of farm fires that have resulted in a spike in the levels of air pollution in Delhi. The image displays hotpots with small red dots and the entire area around the national capital is seen with high levels of air pollution.
Pawan Gupta, a Universities Space Research Association (USRA) scientist at Nasa’s Marshall Space Flight Centre, informed, “Looking at the size of the plume on November 11 and the population density in this area, I would say that a conservative estimate is that at least 22 million people were affected by smoke on this one day.”
Spike in pollution level due to stubble burning
In October, the Supreme Court acknowledged the fact that stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana was the main reason for air quality degeneration, particularly in the national capital region. After the farmers from neighbouring states like Punjab and Haryana burnt stubble on Diwali, Delhi witnessed a dramatic increase in air quality index.
As earlier reported by TFI, stubble burning cases broke all records in the ongoing paddy harvesting season as Punjab reported 5,327 incidents in a single day, taking the count to 28,792. Punjab had detected 3,032 cases on Diwali. It was the third time that over 3,000 straw-burning events have been recorded in a day, with the earlier one being on November 2 at 3,001.
While the farmers from Punjab are burning stubble that is resulting in air pollution, farmers like Ramkumar from Haryana are changing the game to fight the pollution in Delhi. Rajkumar has set an exemplary example of how stubble can be used to generate income, and this model needs to be followed by other farmers as well.
