Stubble burning: Punjab to study Nagpur’s initiative of using agri-waste briquettes for cremations

While earlier it was only paddy stubble burning that had Punjab officials on its toes after harvesting in October-November, now the trend to burn wheat stubble is catching up among farmers.

At a field in Sangrur. Gurmeet Singh

In another attempt to control stubble burning menace in the state, Punjab will now be exploring and studying the initiative carried out by Nagpur Municipal Corporation of using ‘agri-waste briquettes’ for cremations.

In a pilot project, Nagpur Municipal Corporation with the help of an NGO Eco-Friendly Living Foundation, has been using briquettes (small cakes made of agricultural waste and residue) instead of firewood for cremations for past two years. They are using briquettes made from agriculture waste like cow dung, soyabean and cotton crop residue among others. Replacing wood, agri-waste briquettes have made cremations pollution free and also solved farmers’ problem of disposing crop residue. Also, usage of briquettes is reducing the cost.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Manmohan Kalia, joint director (agricultural engineering) Punjab and nodal officer for crop residue management, said, “We had discussed this idea to use paddy and wheat stubble in cremations earlier as well with the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB). But the main concern was pollution caused by direct burning of stubble. However, pollution problem can be solved if we make briquettes and add materials like cow dung and other crops residue along with stubble.”

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He added that there is immense scope to get briquettes manufactured from Ludhiana-based industry, but high investment cost is a concern. “We will contact Nagpur MC officials and study how they are working it out. We have received inputs from some people on how Nagpur is using agri-waste for cremations,” he said.

Wheat stubble burning starts; 212 fires captured

While earlier it was only paddy stubble burning that had Punjab officials on its toes after harvesting in October-November, now the trend to burn wheat stubble is catching up among farmers. Already 212 fires have been captured across Punjab as per the data provided to Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) by Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, Ludhiana.

As per the data from April 10 to 28, a total of 212 field fires were captured by PRSC through satellite imaging. The maximum 33 were captured in Sangrur followed by 26 in Bathinda, 23 in Fazilka, 18 in Ferozepur and 13 each in Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and Patiala.

Divya Goyal

Divya Goyal is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Punjab. Her interest lies in exploring both news and feature stories, with an effort to reflect human interest at the heart of each piece. She writes on gender issues, education, politics, Sikh diaspora, heritage, the Partition among other subjects. She has also extensively covered issues of minority communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She also explores the legacy of India's partition and distinct stories from both West and East Punjab. She is a gold medalist from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, the most revered government institute for media studies in India, from where she pursued English Journalism (Print). Her research work on “Role of micro-blogging platform Twitter in content generation in newspapers” had won accolades at IIMC. She had started her career in print journalism with Hindustan Times before switching to The Indian Express in 2012. Her investigative report in 2019 on gender disparity while treating women drug addicts in Punjab won her the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity in 2020. She won another Laadli for her ground report on the struggle of two girls who ride a boat to reach their school in the border village of Punjab. ... Read More

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