Stubble burning: The contrasting stories of Haryana, Delhi, and Punjab

Doing politics at the expense of people’s lives is the most reprehensible way of doing politics. The pertinent problem of air pollution in Delhi-NCR owes its roots to the needless politicisation of a sensitive issue pertaining to the lives of every citizen. Rather than working collectively or taking responsibility, the public representatives have been engaging in blame games. They shift the goal posts as per their convenience.

Notably, the promising data from the Haryana region reveals that if this problem of air pollution is tackled properly and with conviction, it can be solved easily. But Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is still not learning from either his failures or the exemplary work of the Khattar government in Haryana.

The Endless Rants and Blame Game of Arvind Kejriwal

There is no rival to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal when it comes to talking big, playing the blame game, or dereliction of duty. He is notorious for making tall promises and failing miserably on them. Rather than working on it, he spent enormous amounts of money on advertisements to create a positive aura for himself without doing any work on the ground.

Evidently, even after governing the state of Delhi for seven years, he has not come true to his words on pollution. Earlier, he used to take a free pass by blaming stubble burning in Punjab for the air pollution in Delhi.

But now, to give a free pass to his party governments in Delhi and Punjab, he is shamelessly blaming the Modi government, citizens, and air patterns for the air pollution. Simply put, everyone except the Kejriwal government is responsible for the mess and making Delhi a gas chamber.

Also Read: The politics around crackers in New Delhi is getting nauseating

Apparently, he addressed a joint press conference with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann to shift the blame of Delhi’s air pollution onto the Center. He said, “The problem of air pollution is not only in Delhi; it is a problem being faced by northern India, and the Central government should come forward and take specific actions to curb the air pollution.”

He even audaciously asked PM Modi’s resignation for the problem of air pollution in Delhi. Following his diktat, the entire Aam Aadmi Party is going overboard and shifting blame left, right, and centre for the Delhi government’s failure. However, the Delhi CM should wake up from his slumber and witness the turnaround the Haryana government has pulled off in regards to their fight against air pollution.

Haryana registers a sharp fall in cases of stubble burning

As per government data, there has been a significant reduction in stubble burning cases in Haryana. Till the 3rd of November, the state witnessed around 2,377 cases of stubble burning. This is a sharp fall of 30 percent as compared to last year. Last year, a total of 3,438 cases of stubble burning were registered in the state during the same period.

District-wise stats show that most of the cases of stubble burning from September 15 to November 3 were registered in Fatehabad, Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra, and Yamunanagar. In these districts as well, the cases of stubble burning are lesser as compared to last year.

The table below highlights the sharp reduction in cases of stubble burning in a few districts of Haryana. Other districts also follow a similar positive trend.

This sharp reduction in cases of stubble burning in Haryana is not limited to this year only. The last six years’ data show that there has been a 55 percent decrease in cases of stubble burning in the state. In 2016, 15,685 incidents of stubble burning were registered, which has come down to 6987 in 2021. This reduction did not happen on its own. The Haryana government did a lot of work, and as a result, now these cases have come down drastically.

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Firstly, the Haryana government has taken many steps to stop the farmers from burning stubble. The Khattar government is running several beneficial schemes, including cash rewards and subsidies, to encourage farmers not to burn their stubble. Farmers are being provided Rs 1,000 per acre. Additionally, a subsidy of Rs 50 per quintal has been provided for the equipment needed to pack stubble in bundles.

Apart from this, the Khattar government in Haryana is also providing a 50 percent subsidy to the farmers for equipment needed for the leftover management of the crop and an 80 percent subsidy on custom hiring centers. If the farmers take the bundles of stubble to the plants in Karnal and Panipat, they are provided an incentive amount of Rs 2000 per acre.

Kejriwal government spends more on advertising than fighting pollution

Earlier, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal boasted that he has a solution for the problem of stubble burning in Punjab. He promised that if his party’s government comes into power in Punjab, they would use biodecomposers to turn stubble into manure.

Till date, the AAP government in Punjab is still looking for ways to tackle this problem. Additionally, one RTI report has revealed that the AAP government in Delhi spent more money on advertisements than on providing biodecomposers.

Also Read: Supreme Court admits that it’s the stubble that causes pollution and not the humble Diwali crackers

As per the RTI report, the Kejriwal government has spent Rs 7.50 crores so far. As per a Newslaundry report, the Delhi government spent Rs 22 lakh in 2020–21 and Rs 46 lakh in 2021–22 on spraying biodecomposers. Contrary to that, the Kejriwal government spent Rs 16 crore on advertisements in 2020–21 and Rs 7 crore in 2021–22.

The Delhi government has spent 72 times more on its advertisement than on spraying bio decomposer. From all of this, it is clear that the problem of air pollution can be solved if politicians like the Delhi CM stop passing the buck and take steps to give a dignified life to residents of Delhi and the NCR.

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