Chandigarh : “Pollution caused by stubble burning is not a problem of one state alone, but of the entire country. The State Government is constantly taking steps to prevent farmers from burning paddy stubble, but this campaign can get a big boost only if the Central Government provides financial assistance to the farmers.” It was stated by the Environment Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer today during a video conference held by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Environmental Change with the Environment Ministers of the states.
Meet Hayer said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had requested the Central Government to provide financial assistance for stubble management before the paddy sowing season. He said that the Punjab Government has provided more than 90 thousand machines for stubble management on a huge subsidy. A target of providing more than 32 thousand additional machines to farmers has been set. Apart from this, emphasis is being laid on setting up electricity, biogas etc. plants to use straw as fuel. The use of straw as 20 per cent fuel for brick kilns is being made mandatory.
The Environment Minister said that people’s participation is also very important to prevent the problem of pollution caused by stubble burning, for which an awareness campaign has also been launched by involving the students of colleges and universities. He said that continuous efforts are also being made by the Agriculture Minister in this regard and the government is also working on both temporary and permanent arrangements to deal with this problem.
Earlier, Union Environment, Forest and Environmental Change Minister Bhupinder Yadav also addressed it.
Additional Chief Secretary Development Saravjit Singh and Secretary Environment Rahul Tewari were also present in the meeting.
