Combating air pollution

Stubble burning requires an economically rewarding solution

The Delhi government’s recent announcement about working on a plan to bring down air pollution due to the burning of crop residues in the capital’s neighbourhood is a welcome move that should spur similar action by the governments of the adjoining states as well. The drive against torching paddy stubble in north-western states seems to have overcome the initial hiccups and has started to show results. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research recently claimed, on the basis of satellite-based studies, that the incidence of biomass burning had dipped last year by 41 per cent in Haryana, 25 per cent in