Haryana officials visit farms to douse stubble fires in fields, create awareness

Kaithal (Haryana) [India], November 6 : Haryana Agriculture Department officials on Saturday visited farms to douse off fires set to stubble piled up in fields in Kaithal and also create awareness about the hazards of stubble burning and government schemes in this regard.
"We are currently running an information campaign in every village, especially in the red zone area. We are spreading awareness about residue management of the stubble which will increase fertility of the land. Stubble itself turns into the manure with the passage of time," said Karam Chand, Deputy Director (agriculture), Kaithal.
"Haryana government has imposed a ban on setting crop residue on fire. To stop the burning of stubble, the district administration has formed 278 teams at the block and village level in the Kaithal district, which are spread throughout the district. They will monitor and give immediate information wherever there is a fire in any field," he added.
The situation, however, has improved as compared to previous years. Chand said, "For the past several years we have been working by making plans. Active fire locations have decreased. We are carrying out awareness drives and farmers are being provided with agriculture equipment needed to harvest residue there in the field itself."
Meanwhile, with emissions from stubble burning contributing to a 36 per cent share of the pollution in Delhi on Saturday, the national capital's Air Quality Index (AQI) remained in the "severe category" for the second consecutive day.
As per the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) model the share of stubble emissions has peaked at 36 per cent.
In the last 24 hours, the PM2.5 level is higher as compared to 2020 but much less than that in 2018. However, it may be noted that local winds have picked up since morning and now fast dispersion is expected.