Fields of fire: Haryana sees big jump in stubble burning cases

Focus on farmers' protests, upcoming polls have diluted state's drive against the practice

In mid-November, as the National Capital Region (NCR) was once again engulfed in a thick blanket of toxic smog, Sudhir Pandit, a farmer from Panipat in Haryana, debated on whether to spend Rs 2,000 per acre to get his farm cleared of crop stubbles or to simply burn them.

He ended up doing the latter. “I have a loan of several lakhs of rupees. Last year, the government promised us Rs 1,000 per acre if we did not grow paddy (the crop that leaves behind the stubble), but I did not get anything. The government’s tall promises of providing decomposer