NEW DELHI: Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday held a meeting with environment department officials from Punjab and Haryana regarding the issue of crop residue burning.
According to the Delhi government, a delegation of senior officials from the two neighbouring states arrived in the national capital on Friday to study the effect of the bio-decomposer.
Rai said that the delegations of both states took detailed information about the effects of spraying of the bio-decomposer made by the Kejriwal government to solve the problem of stubble burning. “All the states will have to make concerted efforts to solve the problem of stubble burning. A centralised arrangement will have to be made for this and a centre should be established in each district, through which bio-decomposer would be provided free of cost to the farmers.
Other state governments should provide bio-composure free of cost to stop stubble burning just like Delhi government,” said Rai in the meeting. The delegation met the farmers of Delhi’s Hiranki, Palla and Jindpur villages along with officials of the Delhi Development Department and scientists from the Pusa Institute.
The AAP government has come under attack from the BJP and Congress in the opposition after a recently released report on air quality which stated that Delhi is the most polluted capital city in the world. The government defended itself by saying that its efforts have brought down pollution by a considerable 15 per cent in the last few years but that the collective efforts with other states and the Centre taking some serious initiatives will yield much better results for a cleaner future.
Delhi government has hailed the bio-decomposer mechanism as a revolutionary step to tackle the problem of stubble burning in other states, mainly Punjab. Every year thick blanket of toxic smog engulfs the city during the winters causing worry to the Delhi government.