‘AAP’s criminal failure has turned Delhi into a gas chamber,’ says Bhupendra Yadav

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Thursday alleged the AAP government’s “criminal failure” to provide alternatives to farmers in Punjab has “turned Delhi into a gas chamber”. He said the Centre has given Rs 1,426.41 crore to Punjab for procurement of machines to manage crop residue and that AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann should answer how they spent the money. “This country is yet to see a bigger liar than Arvind Kejriwal. 93 percent of farm fire events this year have happened in Punjab, turning Delhi-NCR into a gas chamber, because the Aam Aadmi Party has failed to provide alternatives to farmers. This is a criminal failure of governance on the part of AAP,” Yadav posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Meanwhile, central government sources said stubble burning in Punjab is the major reason behind air pollution in Delhi-NCR during the paddy harvesting season. They said a total of 22,644 stubble-burning incidents have been recorded between 15 September and 7 November. Punjab accounted for 93 per cent of these farm fires. The sources attributed the “high number of stubble burning incidents” in Punjab to the lack of incentive schemes by the state government. “The Haryana government has been implementing their own incentive scheme for ex-situ management, that is, for procurement of straw from farmers and its transportation, etc. It also informed about an incentive scheme being implemented for encouraging farmers to shift from paddy to other crops,” a source said.

Officials in the meeting noted that the Punjab government should immediately launch similar schemes. A source said a bio-decomposer, which was presented by the Delhi government as a cost-effective solution to stubble burning, has also failed to control farm fires.

According to data from the Decision Support System, a numerical model-based framework capable of identifying sources of particulate matter pollution in Delhi, stubble burning in neighbouring states, especially Punjab and Haryana, accounted for 37 percent of the air pollution in Delhi on Tuesday.

Delhi has recorded “severe” air quality on six days since 3 November, with smoke from farm fires, especially in Punjab, being a major contributor to the capital’s air pollution. The air quality in Delhi on Thursday too was in the ‘severe’ category and monitoring agencies predict no significant relief in the next five to six days. The city’s 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI), recorded at 4 pm every day, stood at 437 on Thursday, worsening from 426 on Wednesday.

The AQI map prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board showed clusters of red dots (indicating hazardous air quality) spread across the Indo-Gangetic plains. According to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Punjab, which accounts for the maximum number of cases of stubble burning every year, reported 49,922 farm fires in 2022, compared to 71,304 the previous year and 83,002 in 2020. The agrarian state logged 50,738 incidents of stubble burning in 2019, 59,684 in 2018, 67,079 in 2017, and 102,379 in 2016.

Haryana recorded 3,661 farm fires in 2022, down from 6,987 in 2021 and 4,202 in 2020. The neighbouring state witnessed 6,364 incidents of stubble burning in 2019, 9,225 in 2018, 13,085 in 2017, and 15,686 in 2016. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), a statutory body responsible for formulating strategies to reduce pollution in Delhi-NCR, reported that the number of stubble-burning incidents in Punjab and Haryana since September 15 has reduced by around 56 percent and 40 percent, respectively, compared to the corresponding period last year.

The Punjab government aims to reduce farm fires by 50 percent this winter season and eliminate stubble burning in six districts.