Recognising that air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region has been a “cause of concern,” Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday announced a “special scheme” that will support the efforts of the government of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in addressing air pollution specifically with respect to managing crop residue. A task force set up under the CII-NITI Aayog Clean Air initiative had in September last year recommended a package worth more than Rs 3,000 crore as financial assistance to farmers to shift to alternative ways of dealing with agricultural waste. Jaitley, however, did not mention in his budget speech the exact amount of money that will be allocated under this new scheme. It is likely that it will be part of the 'sub-mission for agricultural mechanisation' under which funds for post-harvesting technology will fall under. “A special Scheme will be implemented to support the efforts of the governments of Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and the NCT of Delhi to address air pollution and to subsidize machinery required for in-situ management of crop residue,” Jaitley said, while delivering the Union Budget 2018-19. Every year starting late September and through October, the Indo-Gangetic plain is enveloped by a thick smog due to paddy stubble burning, a practice followed by farmers mainly from Punjab and Haryana. This low cost straw disposal practice that involves burning crop residue helps reduce the turnaround time between harvesting paddy and sowing the next wheat crop. Repeated attempts have been made to encourage farmers to switch to non-polluting technology that can help manage paddy stubble, however, it is a cost that is impossible for small farmers to take on without state support. However, the smoke caused from this method of crop residue disposal, affects the Capital's air. In fact, worse than even Delhi, the air quality drastically reduces in cities like Moradabad, Agra and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, and also places as far away from the Capital as Howrah.
