State to be free of stubble-burning by 2030

Unveiling the state’s latest environmental plan recently, Chief minister Nayab Singh Saini identified stubble burning as one of the key reasons for detriorating air quality and promised to eliminate it by 2030. Saini said the stubble burning is often blamed for air crisis in the NCR.

“Stubble burning is one of biggest environmental crisis and Haryana is well aware of the fact. Since over a decade we are continuously working to resolve the issue. The state government has developed an action plan for 2025, including a provision for an approximately Rs 200 crore subsidy for the purchase of crop residue management machines. This will ensure that Haryana will be free of stubble-burning by 2030.” Said Saini .

Haryana boasts of leaving behind Punjab and eliminating 90 per cent of stubble burning in the last nine years. The state launched aggressive programmes last year and achieved a 39 per cent reduction in stubble burning incidents in 2024 compared to 2023.

“The biggest achievement for Haryana is that a farmer today is aware of the problems that stubble burning causes. Almost 10 years ago we started by trying to explain and persuade and today we have the farmers coming to us seeking solutions. The shift in mindset has brought considerable change and Haryana will soon be free of stubble-burning state,” added Agriculture Minister Shyam Singh Rana.

In May this year, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), Delhi, had issued directives to neighbouring states to curtail stubble burning.

It listed out 19-point steps that Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh must take to fully eliminate stubble burning this year. In its orders to the three states CAQM directed that these states must map every village farm, tag a nodal officer to no more than 50 farmers, junk outdated crop-residue-management (CRM) machines and make CRM machines rent-free for small and marginal farmers. These states have been asked to constitute a Parali Protection Force made up of the police, agriculture, and civic officers to “closely monitor, oversee and guard” against stubble burning incidents.