Chhattisgarh govt charts plan to take on stubble burning threat

Even as the national capital reels from severe air pollution allegedly inflicted by burning paddy stubble in the adjoining states,

Chhattisgarh has mooted a plan to deal with the issue.
 

To begin with, the Raipur district administration has launched a campaign codenamed “Paira Daan, Maha Abhiyan (paddy stubble donation, great campaign).” In Chhattisgarh, paddy stubble is called “paira”.
 

Under the campaign, the authorities are appealing to farmers to “donate” the paddy stubble to the “gauthans”, the livestock sheds. These sheds were built in the panchayats under Bhupesh Baghel government’s Godhan Nyay Yojana, launched in 2020. The centres have become a source of livelihood for the villagers.

As of now, 8,408 gauthans have been set up against the sanctioned 10,624.
 

The Congress government is building a rural industrial park in the vicinity of the gauthans. It is engaging women self-help groups (SHGs) to manufacture vermicompost and fertilisers from cow dung and urine that the state government is procuring.
 

The cows in the shed require fodder and the state government is exploring it to overcome the problem of paddy stubble.
 

“To ensure that there is enough fodder for the animals in the gauthans, we have appealed to the farmers to give as much paddy stubble as possible,” district collector of Raipur Sarveshwar Narendra Bhure said.
 

The authorities have asked the farmers to donate the paddy stubble to the nearest gauthan.
 

The staff and officers of the departments concerned have been pressed into the service to make “Paira Daan Maha Abhiyan” a success. The campaign is going on in the entire district.
 

Bhure said pollution caused by the burning of crop waste left in the fields is an issue.
 

“Due to cooperation between the administration and the people in Chhattisgarh, a solution to this issue appears likely,” he said, adding that people are contributing the “paira” that remains in the fields after the paddy crop has been harvested.
 

People have donated “paira” to the gauthans on the state government's request, and in some places, the transport costs are covered by the gauthan committees. 

In this campaign of “paira daan”, Village Semaria of the Arang development block has set an example where people carried “paira” on their heads and brought them to the gauthan.
 

Bhure said gauthan has been included in the Suraji Gaon Yojana for the conservation and enhancement of livestock. Gauthan committees arrange free access to water and fodder for the animals.