‘Take Full Responsibility’: Punjab and Delhi CMs Vow to Reduce Stubble Burning by Next Year

Several in Delhi have been issuing calls to Union and state governments in Punjab and Delhi to help tackle the worsening air pollution situation in the NCT.

Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, stated in a news conference that both governments “accept full responsibility” for the rise in agricultural fires in Punjab, which is thought to have contributed to Delhi’s dangerous air pollution condition. Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann was by his side.
In order to lessen the negative impacts of pollution and combat it, Kejriwal declared that his administration will suspend primary school lessons starting on Saturdays, ban outdoor sports for kids in grades higher than 5, and maybe apply the odd-even plan.
The Union government has implemented additional restrictions through the implementation of the fourth stage of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to address the pollution, according to The Wire, as Delhi’s air quality remains in the “severe” category and meteorological conditions are expected to worsen it further in the coming days.

On November 3, Delhi’s Air Pollution Index (AQI) was in the 400s, which is the range at which healthy persons are adversely affected by air quality and those with pre-existing illnesses are severely harmed. The AQI was 510 in the late evening. The bad air quality in Delhi also caused a lot of physical suffering, according to several locals.

According to Reuters, “Delhi’s 20 million inhabitants were practically inhaling smoke on Thursday.”

Many people in Delhi have been pleading with the federal and state governments to assist in resolving the issue.

A request to limit Punjab’s stubble burning was scheduled for November 10 by the Supreme Court on Friday.

The news conference today is thought to be a response to the ongoing criticism of the Aam Aadmi Party-led administrations in the two states.

We only have six months in Punjab. Law and order implementation took place throughout the first several months. Please give us another year to figure this out,” Kejriwal reportedly remarked, according NDTV.

On March 19, Mann was sworn in as the chief minister of Punjab.

“We’ve taken action to manage it. By the next year, stubble burning will decrease, according to Kejriwal today.

He said that in order to address the issue of stubble burning, both a combined gathering of the chief ministers and professional advice were required.

The habit of setting fire to the leftover paddy straw after harvesting enters its peak season around this time of year, according to The Wire. Punjab recorded 3,634 agricultural fires on November 2, the most this year to that point, according to information collated by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute.

The bountiful paddy harvest in Punjab has caused greater burning this year, according to Mann, who “promised” to find a solution by November of the next year.

Punjab has 1.20 lakh devices for burying stubble in fields, according to Mann, who also noted that local panchayats have resolved not to burn stubble.