Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Gram Sachivs and Patwaris directed to bring to notice to Govt burning of wheat stubble or paddy straw

CHANDIGARH, MARCH 6
 In order to check pollution, the Haryana Government has directed the Gram Sachivs and Patwaris to bring all the incidents of burning of wheat stubble or paddy straw and other agricultural waste in the open fields during the harvest seasons, to the notice of concerned Deputy Commissioners within 30 minutes of the occurrence of such incidents.  In case they fail to do so without sufficient cause, it will be treated as dereliction of duty.
          This was informed by  Haryana Environment and Climate Change Minister, Mr Vipul Goel while replying to a question  on the steps taken to check pollution including burning of straw and industrial pollution during the second day of the ongoing Budget Session here today. 
          He said that Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has engaged Haryana Space Application Centre to monitor the crop residue burning activities in the form of satellite imageries for effective monitoring and enforcement purposes, on daily basis. Further SMS alerts regarding incidences of burning cases are sent to Deputy Commissioners, Agriculture Department and Officers of HSPCB. Regular monitoring and review meetings are held at Government level to review the situation.
          Mr Goel said that the regional officers of the Board are submitting daily reports on the activities in their jurisdiction on the number of incidences detected, the amount of penalty imposed and collected, number of cases where FIR's lodged.
          He said that in the year 2016 Environmental Compensation of Rs. 19.38 lakh was collected and in year 2017 Environmental Compensation of Rs. 42.17 lakh was collected and 236 FIRs registered against the violators. Wide publicity is given creating awareness among public and farmers on the harmful effects of crop residue burning on environment and health, through electronic and print media, through public rallies and competitions in educational institution.
          He said that the government has started a project, Scaling up of Climate Resilient Agriculture practices towards Climate Smart Villages in Haryana to curb the practices of burning of paddy straw under the National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,  Government of India in which Environment and Climate Change Department, Haryana is Nodal Department, NABARD is implementing entity and Agriculture  and Farmers' Welfare Department is executive agency. Further, Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Department is also providing assistance on happy seeders, bailing machines etc. to curb the practices of paddy straw burning under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna.
          He said that the Government has constituted a State Level Committee under the Chairmanship of Administrative Secretary of Agriculture Department, with members from Secretaries of Departments of Finance, Environment, Revenue and Disaster Management, Home and Urban Local Bodies, with Director of Agriculture as Member Secretary, to implement and review the orders of NGT for prevention of stubble burning in the State.
          The Minister said that District Level Committees under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner has also been constituted comprising of officers from Departments of Agriculture, Panchayat, Revenue, Police and HSPCB for implementation of orders of NGT in controlling the air pollution in NCR Districts.
          Replying to the steps taken to check industrial pollution, he said that HSPCB is ensuring installation and operation of Common Effluent Treatment Plants in industrial clusters across the State for treatment of industrial effluent. The Board is ensuring installation and operation of Pollution Control Devices by Air and Water polluting units and compliance of prescribed standards for discharge of environmental pollutants. 
          HSPCB is taking legal action including closure action against the polluting industries found non complying the prescribed standards for discharge of pollutants and other provisions of environmental Acts/Rules. HSPCB has installed 4 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations in the - State at Panchkula, Faridabad, Gurugram and Rohtak and Board is in the process of installing 19 more such Stations at various locations in the State which will cover all the District Head Quarters. Regular monitoring of the water quality of rivers and drains flowing through the State, at 20 locations is done by Board.
          The Board has issued directions to major water polluting industries for waste water management and utilization of treated effluent including achieving of zero liquid discharge and regular monitoring of compliance of these directions is done by the Board.
          He said that the Board has issued direction to all large and medium scale industries of highly polluting in nature and Common Treatment and Disposal Facilities to install online monitoring systems and making the data of emission and effluent discharge available online on the server of the Board. As many as 114 units in Haryana have already installed the same. It is ensuring the installation of improved air emission technology in the Brick Kilns in NCR Districts of the State. 

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