National Green Tribunal: Frame Policy To Stop Burning Crop Residue To Prevent Air Pollution.

The National Green Tribunal has directed Delhi and four northern states to formulate a comprehensive policy for providing incentives and infrastructural assistance to farmers to stop them from burning crop residue to prevent air pollution.
The green panel directed the chief secretaries of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh governments to file a detailed affidavit enumerating their action plan and compliance of its orders on the mechanism for collection and storage of crop residue.
A Bench headed by Justice Jawad Rahim ordered the state governments to submit the action plan in two weeks and warned that in case of default, it would summon the chief secretaries of these states.
The tribunal rapped the Delhi and Rajasthan governments after they told the Bench that they were examining the issue and sought time for filing the action plan.
The NGT said the state governments were under obligation to identify the sites in each district for removal, collection and storage of crop residue for further utilisation, but there had been no “concrete” development in the matter.
“It is regrettable that no responsible statement is being made except seeking instructions,” the Bench said and posted the matter for further hearing on March 13.
The Punjab and Haryana governments had told the tribunal that there were few plants for palletisation of crop residue, and these could promote this mechanism through private participation if the National Thermal Power Corporation gave a commitment with viable rates and long-term buy-back arrangements.
The tribunal had asked the state governments to give the description of these sites in their areas along with their capacity and the modes of utilisation of the crop residue generated in the fields.
The Punjab government had earlier faced the wrath of the tribunal for not taking effective steps to provide financial assistance and infrastructure facility to the farmers to encourage them not to burn agricultural residue in their fields. The green panel had said that two years had elapsed since its verdict in the Vikrant Tongad case, in which it had passed a slew of directions to stop crop burning, but the state government had shown a lethargic approach.