On Thursday, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) convened a high-level review meeting via video conferencing with Punjab Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua and state government representatives to address the state's ongoing stubble burning and rising air pollution.
According to an official statement, the NHRC has expressed deep concern over cases of stubble burning in North India, particularly in Punjab, as the air quality has deteriorated to a "severe" level in many cities, jeopardizing public health and having a particularly negative impact on people who already have medical conditions.
The commission recommended severely reducing the number of residue-burning events. It stated that Punjab would face severe punishment if the situation did not improve.
The Chief Secretary provided the Commission with cases involving the management of stubble in Punjab, and the Commission also requested certain statistics in this context.
The Chief Secretary stated that farmers are being encouraged and advised not to burn stubble and that the entire public administration is working to limit the frequency of stubble burning this year under the direction of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
As per the media reports, the Chief Secretary will have a meeting with all Deputy Commissioners and senior officials of Punjab which will be conducted every week to discuss stubble management in order to take practical steps to avoid stubble burning.
Further, the reports also state that as per the Chief Secretary, officials have been paying close attention to hotspots in the areas where farm fires have been reported in the past several years.
In addition to this, a senior IAS officer has been assigned to each of the state's 23 districts, and they have been told to work at the local level to carefully monitor the management of stubble and avoid stubble-burning incidents.
For the sake of the future health of children and youth, the Chief Secretary pleaded with the farmers to not burn stubble under any circumstances and to work with the government to manage it.
