Haryana Chief Secretary Calls for Urgent Action to Eliminate Stubble Burning in the State

Haryana's Chief Secretary, TVSN Prasad, has urged senior officials to take decisive steps towards eliminating stubble burning in the state. During a virtual meeting with divisional commissioners, deputy commissioners, and police superintendents from various districts, Prasad emphasised the government's commitment to addressing the harmful effects of stubble burning on air quality and public health. He called for immediate action to make Haryana a stubble-burning-free state.

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Prasad instructed the formation of a four-member committee at the block level. This committee will include a sub-divisional magistrate, a tehsildar, and an agriculture development officer. Their task is to identify hotspots and implement measures to prevent stubble-burning incidents. The committee must submit daily reports to the Monitoring and Coordination Department by 5 pm.

Focus on Crop Residue Management

The Chief Secretary highlighted the importance of raising awareness among farmers about the negative impact of burning paddy straw. He directed Deputy Commissioners to engage with farmers and inform them about incentive schemes promoting responsible crop residue management. Prasad also stressed the need for night patrols to monitor and prevent paddy straw burning incidents.

Prasad reiterated Haryana's commitment to optimising Crop Residue Management (CRM) machinery use. These machines are available at Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs) for in-situ and ex-situ stubble management practices, reducing the need for burning. A robust ecosystem is being developed to ensure continuous utilisation of paddy straw, offering farmers environmentally friendly and economically viable alternatives.

Ex-Situ Utilisation Initiatives

In 2024, Haryana's paddy cultivation area expanded to 15.73 lakh hectares, leading to increased paddy straw generation. Basmati paddy straw production reached 4.06 million tonnes, while non-basmati production rose to 4.04 million tonnes, totalling 8.10 million tonnes of paddy straw generated in Haryana.

To address environmental concerns and promote industrial use of paddy straw, Haryana has focused on various ex-situ utilisation methods. For 2024, 2.54 million tonnes of paddy straw have been allocated for industrial usage across different sectors.

Key areas of ex-situ utilisation include industrial boilers and furnaces consuming 1.03 million tonnes of straw, biomass-based power generation using 0.83 million tonnes, compressed biogas (CBG) plants applying 0.1 million tonnes, and 2G bio-ethanol plants utilising 0.2 million tonnes. Co-firing in thermal power plants accounted for 0.28 million tonnes, while brick kilns and miscellaneous industries used 0.10 million tonnes.

The Chief Secretary assured that he would personally monitor the situation daily, emphasising that no cases of stubble burning would be tolerated. Officers performing well in preventing paddy straw burning will be duly honoured.