Delhi govt to prepare bio-decomposer solution for 4,000 acres to stop stubble burning

The Delhi government, in an effort to stop stubble burning, is gearing up to spray bio-decomposer solutions across farmlands. The government is now preparing to spray farms around the national capital to control the rising air pollution. On Monday, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that the government is preparing a winter action plan to avoid any hazardous rise in pollution.

Gopal Rai also said that the government has already taken multiple to solve the problem of rising air pollution due to stubble burnings. "In order to solve the problem of pollution, Delhi government is constantly meeting with different departments and preparing a winter action plan. Stubble burning contributes to Delhi's pollution that reaches a dangerous level. Many laws were made to deal with this problem... Penalties were imposed on the farmers but no solution was found," the minister said in a media briefing.

Bio-decomposer spraying to control air pollution in Delhi

Notably, the Delhi government had earlier trialled a bio-decomposer capsule, produced in association with the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa. These capsules could be converted into a solution to be sprayed on crop stubble in the farmlands which would then decompose the stubble into compost in 20 days. This was taken up as a major development to resolve the issue by the state. The bio-decomposer solution is set to be prepared from September 24 and is expected to cover over 4,000 acres of land. 

"Last year, the Delhi government, in association with Pusa Institute, sprayed bio-decomposer on the fields. We got a lot of positive responses. We presented that entire report to the Central Commission for Air Quality Management and they asked for a third-party audit. The audit has been done and the report has been handed over. We are working on other aspects," Rai added. The minister further informed that the Delhi government has made a committee of 25 members to contact the farmers and execute the spray drive free of cost in the farmlands. According to the Delhi government, the estimated expenditure for the procedure has been marked at around Rs 50 lakh, which is double what was spent last year. 

Centre releases over Rs 490 crores to reduce air pollution due to stubble burning 

Meanwhile, the Centre has approved Rs 490 crore to subsidise equipment necessary for in-situ agricultural residue management in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) due to stubble burning in the surrounding states of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. This was announced last week. Sanjay Agarwal, Secretary of the Union Ministry of Agriculture, told the media here that the Centre has allocated Rs 496 crore to four states—Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab—to subsidise machinery necessary for in-situ crop residue management in 2021-22.

The funding was released as part of a scheme to provide farmers with agricultural residue management machinery at a reduced cost. According to the Secretary, micro-level planning at the village and block levels is required to identify problems and prepare ways to decrease crop residue burning. State governments, according to Agarwal, have established more than 30,900 custom hiring centres of crop residue management equipment to give machinery to small and marginal farmers in the last three years. This is expected to reduce the air pollution in Delhi-NCR. 

(With inputs from ANI) 

Image: PTI