Kejriwal holds meetings on possible solutions for disposal of agricultural waste

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has held several meetings over the last two days with agriculturists, entrepreneurs and industry experts to discuss possible solutions for disposal of agricultural waste, according to a statement on Thursday.

Over the past few years, Delhi has seen an annual spike in air pollution that can be directly linked to the burning of agricultural waste in the months of October and November in Punjab and Haryana, it stated.

Last week, a public health emergency was declared in Delhi-NCR following an alarming level of pollution, which the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government said was because of stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana.

After the meetings on Wednesday, Kejriwal said it was commercially viable to convert stubble into compressed natural gas (CNG) using technology, a move which will provide jobs and additional income to farmers, besides reducing air pollution.

"Not only is the ecologically friendly means of disposing 'parali' economically viable but also has the potential for massive job creation. All the state governments and the Centre should consider all the options available and work together to ensure that next year such an environmental disaster is not repeated," experts were quoted as saying in the government statement.

On November 2, Kejriwal had written to Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, seeking his intervention into pollution-related problems and work on a concrete plan to deal with the issue of stubble burning.