Taking note of the alarming levels of air pollution caused by the practise of burning of crop residue, rampant among farmers in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCT of Delhi, the National Green Tribunal ordered to deny the benefit of Minimum Support Price to farmers who continue to follow the practise.
The order was passed by the NGT Principal Bench at New Delhi presided by Chairman Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel on the basis of reports that various measures adopted by State Governments to control crop burning have not yielded desired results, resulting in deterioration of air quality after Dusshera.
The Tribunal noted that the scheme formulated by the Central Government to provide machinery and equipment to enable farmers to remove crop residue through means other than burning have not been fully implemented. In an earlier order, the NGT had observed that 15,000 pre-mature deaths took place in Delhi in the year 2016 due to smog, to which crop burning was a contributing factor. During the hearing, it was suggested to the Tribunal that economic incentives and disincentives could be given to dissuade farmers from indulging in stubble burning. “We make it clear that the existing Minimum Support Price (MSP) Scheme must be so interpreted so as to enable the concerned States to wholly or partly deny the benefit of MSP to those who continue to burn the crop residue. If any such disbursements have already been made with respect to this year’s paddy crop, the same can be adjusted in future”, ordered the NGT, which also comprises Judicial Member S P Wangdi and Expert Member Dr.NaginDanda.
Courtesy/By: Shubham Mathur
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15 Nov 2018
