In the next few days, India’s northern region, especially Delhi, is again likely to become among the most polluted places on earth because a vast number of farmers in Punjab and Haryana have decided to continue their annual ritual of setting fire to paddy straw.
This has brought back the spectre of smog choking the region despite the Centre doling out more than Rs 1,000 crore to the two states to fight stubble-burning, and Punjab and Haryana mobilising almost their entire bureaucracy to fight the menace.
TOI sent out two reporters each in Punjab and Haryana to find out what farmers had to say about the efforts made to stop stubble burning. They came back with dismal stories from almost every village.
All the farmers they met in villages of Sangrur, Patiala, Bathinda, Mansa, Barnala, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Sonipat and Rohtak districts said they have no option but use fire to clear their fields. According to them, the cost of operating the subsidised straw management machines eats into the minuscule profits of medium, small and marginal farmers.
Please click here to read more.