Solutions to stop stubble burning and the deadly air in Delhi NCR and North India
Point solutions like Odd-Even cars in Delhi are only playing a limited role with the biggest issue being stubble burning by farmers in Punjab, Haryana, UP with Punjab clearly at the forefront. Residents of North India are struggling and that includes young children, many of who will have irreversible damage caused to their health for no fault of theirs. Who will be accountable? There is an urgent need for the Government's to collectively work together in mission mode and resolve this problem.
With this post, we would like to seek your very specific inputs on what should be done to address the stubble burning issue so we do not see a repeat of this next year.Below are some of your previous inputs on actions needed to address stubble burning and pollution. We would like to share collective inputs with the Central Government soon and request them to take this up mission mode.
We look forward to your inputs!
Immediate Measures needed to stop Stubble Burning and Deadly Air
1.State Government(s) must remove their paddy sowing notification and ensure farmers have enough water to sow paddy in early June
2.Stop free power to farmers and instead provide power subsidy if they harvest non-paddy crops
3.To ensure enough water is available for farmers, Central and State Governments must work together and transport water if necessary
4. Community pools of seeders must be created at panchayat level so just in case the cycles are disrupted, seeders are used to sow the next crop
5. Government must also create a stubble pick up service in partnership with industry or directly
6.Central Government must issue orders to State Governments to ensure water availability for farmers so sowing and harvesting cycles allow for natural stubble decomposition.
7.Heavy penalty for burning stubble must be introduced and created awareness about and should require either a payment of INR 100,000 per acre or seizure of land for up to 3 years.
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