In ‘model’ Karnal, stubble fires rage on

KARNAL: It is 4pm on Sunday and a winter haze hangs over the Delhi-Karnal highway. Driving through the mist, thicker columns of smoke can be seen on both sides of the road from time to time. The source of one such fire, TOI finds, is a field right next to the national highway. As a few locals watch on, paddy stubbles on an acre of land is being swiftly set ablaze at Uncha Siwana village, less than 10km from Karnal city.
Satish, a farm hand in the neighbourhood, looks at the burning field and remarks, “Jalana hi padta hai (We have to burn it).No one buys the residue and ploughing it into the ground is too expensive.”
That sums up the situation in Karnal, declared a ‘model district’ by the Haryana government in its fight against the stubble burning menace. Despite awareness drives and the risk of fines and FIRs, many farmers have burnt their paddy stubbles again this year because they found no other viable alternative.
TOI saw three live crop fires at separate places in the district in just a couple of hours — one raging within Karnal’s city limits with cops just a few hundred metres away. Besides, there were numerous recently burned fields.
The administration hasn’t watched helplessly. Till Sunday evening, the government had acted on 877 cases of crop fires across the state, 310 of these in Karnal alone. Some 218 FIRs have been registered against offenders in the district, said S Narayanan, member secretary, Haryana Pollution Control Board.

The cases acted upon (either with penalties, FIRs or both) have been far fewer this year. In the paddy season last year, Haryana had acted on 1,800 cases and collected Rs 19.4 lakh as fines, compared with Rs 10.4 lakh so far this year. With just a week or two of the “burning season” remaining, Narayanan cited the lower numbers as proof of a decline in stubble fires this year. But he admitted that the administration can’t be everywhere.
“Government’s action can only be indicative and hopefully act as a deterrent. Change has to come from the people and for that reason we are raising awareness,” Narayanan said.
Most farmers TOI spoke to were aware of the problems caused by stubble-burning, a major source of air pollution across the region in early winter. “Farmers are not criminals. We have to breathe the same smoke that supposedly chokes Delhi around this time. We do it out of compulsion,” says Baburam Barthal, a member of the local Bharatiya Kisan Union unit.
BKU claims stubble-burning has increased this year. It has demanded a compensation of Rs 40,000 per acre to farmers for not setting the stubbles on fire. “Government has provided subsidy in equipment such as the happy seeder, which removes paddy stubble and sows wheat at the same time. But how many farmers can afford it even after the subsidy?” asks Rattan Mann, BKU’s state president.
Alternatively, Mann suggests that the government provide equipment to gram sabhas that farmers can use to remove paddy stubble. “Give us the equipment and no farmer will burn their fields. Also, where the demand for the stubble? We collected paddy residues and tried to sell it at various places. We didn’t find a single buyer,” says Mann.
There’s also the problem of the very narrow window farmer have for getting rid of paddy waste before the next sowing. Which is why farmers need incentives, says Mann. “All small farmers are heavily under debt and are constantly struggling to keep afloat. You can’t expect them to deal with this on their own.”
Narayanan said the government was working on the twin problem of extracting the stubbles and finding a market for it. “A policy is being framed and it should be finalised in the next 10-15 days,” he added.
Clearly, paddy stubble remains a burning issue awaiting solutions all farmers can apply.