Dry residue for 8-10 days: NGO

Mansa, October 9

Exhorting farmers not to burn paddy residue while it is wet, Samvidhan Bachao Manch, an NGO that works for environmental causes, said the stubble must be put on fire after drying it up for atleast eight to 10 days, hence reducing air pollution due to stubble-burning significantly.

With the government merely doing the lip service without any concrete solution to the stubble-burning menace, farmers are left with no alternative than to burn the paddy straw every year, said NGO members.

Balkaran Singh, a leader of the NGO, said, "If the paddy residue is burnt after drying, less smoke is emitted. This way pollution from stubble-burning will be less and visibility will also improve."

He said, "We also request the government to exhort farmers to burn the residue after drying it that toughening its stance against them. In order to resolve this problem and protect the groundwater from further depletion, the government must provide the MSP guarantee on the purchase of other crops as well."

from The Tribune https://ift.tt/V9rhbdM