Do not go for short-cuts: MoS Environment to farmers on stubble burning

Against the backdrop of the hazard posed by stubble burning to air quality in the national capital region, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest Ashwini Kumar Choubey on Tuesday urged farmers not to go for shortcuts as such measures fail to help.

He also called upon people to work for the betterment of air quality, saying it is everyone's responsibility as citizens of the country to look after "mother nature".

Choubey was speaking at an event, organised by the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) in association with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to brainstorm on the issue of amelioration of air quality in the national capital region.

Speaking on the issue of stubble burning, Choubey appealed to all farmers to not go for a shortcut, the ministry said in a statement.

"If we all move ahead together in making our environment clean then it will serve as a great service to our mother nature. If we don't care for our mother nature, it will not care for us as well," the minister was quoted as saying.

The minister also said it is "every citizen's" responsibility to work for the betterment of the air surrounding them.

"We as citizens of India hold the sole responsibility of looking after our mother nature," he added.

The two-day interactive 'dialogue towards clean air', which began on Monday, involved stakeholders from the central government, state governments, pollution control boards, municipal bodies, NGOs, private sector, academia and industry associations, the ministry said.

"Constructive discussions involving stakeholders from different fields along with resourceful insights gave a significant push in the successful implementation of an interactive two-day dialogue," it added.

The ministry said all the technical sessions, presentations and discussions were "very stimulating and enriching".

Stakeholders from various fields interacted about issues impacting the air quality in the entire NCR and presented "insightful inputs," it said.

"The Commission and the MoEF&CC ensured continued support and cooperation to all the stakeholders in a joint fight against the air pollution menace in the NCR," it added.

The commission has so far issued 61 directions and 7 advisories, besides executive orders to various agencies concerned in the NCR including governments of Delhi and Punjab and various bodies of the central and state governments in the region, laying down responsibilities and concrete steps to abate pollution and ameliorate air quality in the region, the ministry said.

"Whether it is about vehicular pollution, industrial emissions, stubble burning, roadside dust generation, solid waste management, vehicular pollution, use of DG sets, etc., the Commission is taking up every issue with utmost concern and it has pulled out all the stops to issue necessary Directions and Advisories to tackle it effectively," it added.