Delhi air choked, why Bhagwant Mann's Punjab govt's implementation flop is the big worry

WHAT THE STORY IS: In the hot political fight between Haryana and Punjab on stubble burning, the policy implementation (or lack of it) of Bhagwant Mann comes into top focus, and with it the data. This story divulges the data on the reality of the stubble burning issue.

WHY THIS STORY?: 

1. THERE’S A POLITICAL FIGHT: While Haryana’s Chief Minister ML Khattar claimed that the incidents of stubble burning in his state are only 10% of those in Punjab, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann’s government is being accused of mega policy implementation failure-- a result of which is a choking Indian national capital.
2. THERE’S A CHOKING NATIONAL CAPITAL: Delhi's AQI has now become the subject of global focus and the national capital of India is breathing a polluted air quality which has slipped into the “severe” category. Stubble burning emerges as a leading cause of the problem. Policy implementation problems, as per the data fleshed out here, is India’s biggest worry.
3. AAP’S POLITICAL ACCOUNTABILITY IN FOCUS: It appears that while Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has announced measures on reducing pollution, his man in Punjab, CM Bhagwant Mann seems to have done little to address or act on the big stubble burning problem. What’s as ironic is that the blowback from stubble burning in Punjab has choked the national capital, presently administered by Kejriwal.
4. KEJRIWAL-RULED DELHI CHOKED, BUT AAP CM COUNTERPART IN PUNJAB THE REASON?:  Beyond politics and embattled political defences, the Arvind Kejriwal Government in Delhi is yet to strongly address the jugular of the reason of air pollution. A reading of hard data indicates that Bhagwant Mann’s failed policy implementation in Punjab has become a leading cause of the problem that the Delhi citizens are facing the brunt of.
5. STUBBLE BURNING IS AMONG THE ROOT CAUSES OF DELHI AIR QUALITY: The fact is that the contribution of stubble burning to the adverse Air quality scenario in Delhi NCR has been increasing sharply and is about 18-20% currently, even as per moderate estimates. In fact, PTI reported yesterday that stubble burning accounts for 26% of Delhi Pollution.
6. POLITICAL ASIDE: The Haryana CM recently said,  "There are not even 10 per cent cases of stubble burning in Haryana as compared to Punjab. Last year there were 2,561 incidents of stubble burning, whereas it has decreased to 1,925 this year while 13,873 incidents have taken place in Punjab this year."

Keep aside the politics, statements and trading of barbs, dive into the facts and data.

WHAT IS STUBBLE BURNING?: 

Stubble (parali) Burning is a process of burning paddy crop residue to sow wheat in the same fields. It is usually carried out between the months of September to November when the dry rice crop residues are set on fire to clear out the area for wheat cultivation. This causes deterioration of air quality in the surrounding areas.

WHY IS MANN-RULED PUNJAB IN FOCUS? 

In a nutshell: 

1. Bhagwant Mann decided to ‘personally review’ efforts on stubble burning, but the data indicates a big implementation failure 
2. What’s worse, is the sharp and catastrophic increase in stubble burning incidents in the past week
3. Guidelines are believed to be in place, however, policy implementation by the Punjab Government is under scrutiny
4. The estimation of resolution of the stubble problem in Punjab is already being pegged at 4-5 years. 

In detail: 

• UPSWING IN LAST 7 DAYS: Coming on the back of Diwali, according to the Standard ISRO Protocol, there has been an increase of about 33.5% in cases of stubble during the period of 15th September 2022 to 28th October 2022, compared to the stubble burning cases during the last year for the same period. Out of a total 10,214 reported cases, about 69% (7,100 cases) of burning incidences have been reported in the last 7 days alone.
• CLUSTER DISTRICTS ACCOUNT FOR 70% + AND YET NO FOCUSSED POLICY IMPLEMENTATION: About 71% of farm fires during the current paddy harvesting season have been reported only from seven districts namely Amritsar, Sangrur, Firozpur, Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Patiala and Tarn Taran. These have been traditional hot-spot districts in Punjab and focused attention was thus needed for these districts, however, given the trend the focused implementation in these cluster districts seem to be amiss.
• GUIDELINES DRAWN OUT, IMPLEMENTATION IN QUESTION: It would be misplaced to state that policies and guidelines are not in place. Under directions of the Commission for Air Quality Management, a comprehensive Action Plan was prepared by the State Government of Punjab, with elaborate and major pillars of action. But, given the fact that the data indicates an increase in incidents despite elaborate guidelines in place, it raises big questions on the implementation ability of the present Punjab Government.

For ease of reference, the guidelines as part of the ‘Action Plan’: 

• Diversification to other crops, diversification to low straw generating and early maturing paddy varieties;
• In-situ crop residue management;
• Bio-decomposer application;
• Ex-situ crop residue management;
• Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities;
• Monitoring and effective enforcement;

WHERE HAS MANN’S PUNJAB GOVT FLOPPED ON POLICY IMPLEMENTATION? 

In a nutshell: 

1. The effective utilisation of the available machinery has been seen as sub-par 
2. A large number of machines have been allowed to remain idle
3. A serious drain on the overall  resources has been the result 

In detail:

• NO IMPLEMENTATION OF BIO-DECOMPOSER STRATEGY: Despite successful field experience with application of bio-decomposer for in-situ management of stubble in the state of Uttar Pradesh and also in the NCT of Delhi, there are questions over the lack of efforts made in Punjab for employing this effective technique for management of stubble. GNCTD last year undertook an extensive publicity campaign to promote bio decomposers. Even the CSR initiative by a private organization for bio-decomposer application was reportedly not facilitated in Punjab.
• LAPSES IN IMPLEMENTATION OF FARM FIRE CONTROL LAWS: There seem to be serious lapses in implementing farm fire control laws. If proven so, the Government of Punjab can be held solely responsible for the failure of governance, as well as for creating a situation by which the people of NCR have to breathe in highly polluted air due to the continued inaction from the Government of Punjab. Should there be no course control on the effective implementation of the farm fire control laws, a serious health emergency is on the cards.
• NO ENHANCEMENT OF USE OF STRAW: No significant effective efforts are evident vis-a-vis enhancing the use of straw for various ex-situ applications and for supply of fodder to fodder-deficient areas.  
• INEFFECTIVE IEC ACTIVITIES: IEC activities and campaigns launched by the state seem to have been highly ineffective as reflected in the substantially higher fire incidences this year. Ineffective monitoring and enforcement at the field level is also a big question, given the fact that the present situation exists despite the deployment of more than 8,000 nodal officers being put in place for the purpose by the State Government led by Bhagwant Mann.

WHAT HAS THE ROLE OF THE CENTRE BEEN?  

In a nutshell: 

• The Central Government has been following up with the Government of Punjab since February 2022 
• The Central Government’s engagement had begun well before the paddy sowing season 2022

In detail: 

CENTRAL GOVT FOLLOW-UPs: The Central Govt. has been following up with the Government of Punjab to sensitise the State Administrative machinery towards preparedness to prevent and control the incidents of stubble burning.

CONSULTATIVE MEETINGS HELD: For effective implementation, consultative meetings were held with major Departments concerned of Government of Punjab like Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare, Environment, Power and Punjab Pollution Control Board and senior officials of the Government of Punjab from time to time, including reviews with the Chief Secretary and also at the level of Deputy Commissioners of the districts.

MEETINGS HELD WITH  MAJOR DEPARTMENTS OF PUNJAB GOVERNMENT: Meetings held by Union Ministers of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Environment, Forests and Climate Change and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying with Punjab Government Ministers and officers and an action plan was formulated for full utilisation of available CRM machinery through speedy procurement, facilitating robust supply chain towards ex-situ utilisation,  and mapping of available machinery 

WHAT HAS THE CENTRE DONE FOR STUBBLE BURNING? 

In a nutshell:

1. The Central Government has put schemes in place to address the financial requirements of the Punjab Government 
2. Machinery has been rolled out and allocated to Punjab
3. Systems have been put in place so as to furnish the requirements of the farm machinery 

In detail:  

• SCHEMES TO ROLL OUT BIG FUNDS TO PUNJAB: The Central Govt through its Crop Residue Management (CRM) scheme has made funds available to the State Govt of Punjab alone to the tune of about Rs. 1,347 crore during last 5 financial years, including the current year.
• CRITICAL FARM MACHINERY ALLOCATED: Wide range of farm machinery to facilitate in-situ and ex-situ management of paddy stubble has been procured by the state of Punjab through the allocations made under the scheme. Including the additional procurement in the current year, a total of more than 1,20,000 machines are available in Punjab.
• SYSTEMIC ECOSYSTEM IN PLACE TO FACILITATE MACHINERY: More than 13,900 custom hiring centres (CHC) have been established in the state to facilitate farm machinery for in-situ and ex-situ farm applications under the CRM scheme.

WHAT ABOUT STUBBLE BURNING IN UTTAR PRADESH & HARYANA?  

Under similar circumstances, the state of Haryana has been able to bring down the farm fire events during 2022 substantially. In fact, for the period between 15th Sept- 28th October 2022, 1,701 incidents have been reported compared to 2,252 incidents for the same period last year i.e. a reduction of about 24.5%.

In NCR districts of Uttar Pradesh as well, there has been a reduction in farm fire incidences. The number of incidents went from 43 in 2021 to 30 in 2022.

So what did Haryana do to get their numbers down?: CM Khattar said, "NGT has given directions to Punjab. We have also appealed (to them) that the pollution will not remain in one state but will spread to many states” and he said that awareness was the key. "We created awareness among the farmers and also took legal action besides imposing penalties and registering FIRs. Incidents of stubble burning have reduced significantly in Haryana as compared to Punjab”, Khattar said.

BRASS TACKS TAKEAWAY: ALL EYES ON KEJRIWAL NOW

The Delhi CM has been on-record hitting out at the Chief Ministers of Punjab in the past over the issue of stubble burning. In fact, he had a very public Twitter spat with the then Punjab CM Capt. Amarinder Singh. Now, with his own party member and aide as the Chief Minister it remains to be seen if Kejriwal demands the same degree of accountability. The Delhi electorate, with the rest of India, needs to know.