Farmers Cannot Be Blamed: NHRC's Take on Stubble Burning Hold States Responsible

The NHRC said that farmers cannot be blamed for the falling AQI in Delhi-NCR, but instead, all four state governments are responsible for this situation. "The farmers are burning stubble under compulsion, but they are doing so because of the failure of the government", it added.

Marking the role of the state governments under the lens of the issue of numerous field fire cases recorded in recent times, NHRC said that no state government has taken any concrete measures to reduce the problem, due to which the air quality of Delhi-NCR deteriorated.

Next Meet on Nov 18

NHRC had earlier held a meeting with the Chief Secretaries of UP, Delhi, Punjab, and Haryana on November 4. During this, it had also sought information from all the Chief Secretaries about the steps taken to prevent stubble burning.

Apart from this, the Chief Secretaries were also asked to give a detailed report on the effect of smog towers and anti-smog guns in their respective states.

Moreover, the Secretaries of Punjab and Haryana were specifically asked to submit a report on the impact of in-situ management of stubble. Post this, the second meet was held on Thursday, November 10, wherein the commission held the state governments responsible for the surge in stubble-burning cases and not the farmers.

The Commission has now given a time of four days to the concerned authorities to file a specific report on the steps taken in regard to the worrisome air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region. The next hearing in this matter will be on 18th November.

Meanwhile, what now seems like a customary practice, the air quality of Delhi-NCR has started deteriorating with the onset of winter as stubble-burning cases in neighboring states increased rapidly in recent times.

The Delhi government has put a ban on construction and demolition works in the national capital to keep the pollution levels under control. Though, despite taking critical measures, the air quality in the region does not seem to be improving as the massive number of farm fire incidents in the northern states remains a significant problem.

Talking of pollution, the air quality of Delhi-NCR remains in the 'very poor' category on Sunday. The Average Air Quality Index (AQI) of the national capital was recorded at 320 at around 9 am, which happens to be higher than the previous day. According to the data of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), an AQI of 311 has been recorded in Delhi on average in the previous days.