Delhi Environment Minister expresses concern over stubble burring

Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain on Friday expressed concern over the unabated stubble burning noticed in the neighbouring states.

Taking to his official Twitter handle, Hussain shared some pictures of burning crop residue in the state surrounding the National Capital Region (NCR), despite the prohibition on the same.

"It is a matter of deep concern that when such instances are visible even on the National Highway, what might be the situation in other areas of these states?" he tweeted.

The state environment minister further said that situation along the National Highway clearly indicates, that the stubble burning may be widespread in of neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

He said that the situation is also leading to a reasonable apprehension that Delhi might witness and experience another episode of worsening ambient air quality conditions in the coming weeks and months.

Hussain further accused the central government and governments of the neighbouring states for not taking up the issue of preventing stubble burning despite repeated requests from the Delhi government.

"In my view such an unpleasant situation was preventable and if the Centre and these state governments wake up even now, northern India can still be saved from disastrous consequences of air pollution in coming days," he said.

Hussain said that the poor farmers are practising stubble burning as they have not been incentivised adequately, which is forcing them to once again resort to burning the agriculture waste residue.

In the Union Budget 2018, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had assured to provide assistance to the Government of Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi National Capital Territory (NCT) to deal with the worsening air quality.

The decision came after Delhi's air pollution levels spiked last year, leaving the people gasping for breath.