Show us the money, say Punjab farmers. The governments do not wish to give the money but machines to handle paddy straw. When the crunch time comes, the machines do not reach fields of the small farmers. Given a short window between harvest and sowing again, the farmers set their fields on fire, knowing the state government would dare not act on them.
This is the vicious cycle of pollution in Delhi-NCR that has come to plague the national capital every year during the months of October-November and this year is no different with the Air Quality Index (AQI) crossing 400 into the ‘severe’ category. Besides causing serious health issues to the residents of Delhi-NCR, it has become a global embarrassment for India with the national capital being termed as a ‘gas chamber’ for a month.
Punjab government’s desperate model of spreading awareness amongst farmers to not burn stubble has been a flop this year. This is exemplified best in the fact that maximum farm fires have been reported from the Sangrur district, the home district of chief minister Bhagwant Mann. The CM has been unable to convince even his own constituents to not burn the straw. Farm fires in Punjab are up almost double from last year, touching 14,000.
Money vs Machines vs Awareness
“Incentive will be provided to farmers adopting alternative ways for paddy straw instead of burning” — said the manifesto of AAP in Punjab earlier this year, raising big hopes that Delhi-NCR could see breathable air this winter. After all, the AAP government in Delhi had always blamed Punjab for the stubble fires and the resultant pollution in Delhi. With the same party now in power in both states — Punjab and Delhi — many thought the issue be finally resolved. But AAP has realised it is easier said than done.
Arvind Kejriwal’s July announcement and the ‘magic solution’, as some called it, was the proposal that farmers who do not burn paddy straw will get a compensation of Rs 2,500 per acre. Punjab and Delhi said they will pitch in with Rs 1,000 and asked the Centre to dole out Rs 1,500 instead. But the Centre rejected this proposal opining that financial incentives could be misused and instead thousands of machines provided by the Centre to handle paddy straw be rigorously employed in the farm fields this year.
The BJP now asks why AAP did not honour its share of the promise and pay Rs 1,000 to the farmers before the harvest season began. The AAP retorts that the Centre’s summary rejection of its proposal is responsible for what has happened and did not lead to in situ management of paddy stubble by the farmers.
Amidst this blame game, most farmers in Punjab say the much-touted machines never reached their fields in time, and if they did reach their village, they were not enough to help out all farmers.
Punjab says it tried the awareness model by “educating farmers” not to burn stubble and go for other means to treat stubble, but it has been in vain given the rising farm fire figures from Punjab have now exposed. The 1.2 lakh machines in Punjab to treat stubble have proved to be too little.
What About Action?
While monetary incentives have not seen the light of the day and the machines and awareness efforts have proved kaput, the fear of penal action against those who burn stubble also seems to be non-existent among the farmers. Farmer associations in fact held a days-long protest outside the house of Mann in Sangrur demanding no action against those who burn stubble. The action against farmers has hence been piece-meal despite 14,000 fires reported from the state already, with Punjab being unwilling to take on the farmer lobby.
Punjab CM Mann now says he will personally monitor the situation. However, this seems a case of too little, too late as the air in Delhi-NCR has already plunged to ‘severe’ levels and the farm fires are expected to rise further this week. The Centre in fact has been warning since a fortnight that the Punjab situation could get worse than 2021.
People are paying for a collective failure of those who were changing the situation.
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