No incident of crop burning in Delhi, advisory issued: AAP govt to NGT

No incident of crop burning has been reported in Delhi and there is no requirement for framing of any policy in this regard, the AAP government has told the National Green Tribunal.

The Delhi government told a bench headed by acting Chairperson justice Jawad Rahim that its Development Department has been issuing advisories to district magistrates to ensure prevention of any incidence of crop residue burning in the national capital.

"The incident of crop burning is not a problem in Delhi. It is further submitted that no such incidence is being reported by any of the district magistrates of NCT Delhi. Accordingly, as of date there appears to be no requirement for framing of any policy in regard to crop residue," the Delhi government said in an affidavit filed by it.

The green panel was told that policy in regard to the "in-situ management" may not be required in Delhi as there is no report of agricultural crop residue burning as of date.

"In case of any fire incident occurring and after learning about the cause of the same, appropriate policy or guidelines will be framed without delay in future," it said.

The tribunal, however, said that it wanted to verify the statement and asked the Delhi Pollution Control Committee to file an affidavit within a week.

The NGT said that it would consider later the plea filed by the Delhi government seeking exemption of Rs 2 lakh which was imposed on it for not filing action plan to stop crop residue burning.

The matter is posted for next hearing on May 17.

The Punjab government had earlier faced the wrath of the tribunal for not taking effective steps to provide financial assistance and infrastructure facility to farmers to encourage them not to burn agricultural residue in their fields.

The green panel had said that two years had elapsed since its verdict in the Vikrant Tongad case, in which it had passed a slew of directions to stop crop burning, but the state government had shown a lethargic approach.

It had said the Punjab government had also failed to tie up with any company, private or public, which could utilise the crop residue.

The tribunal had directed the Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh governments to convene a meeting to work out a clear mechanism on transportation and use of stubble as fuel in power plants.