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Centre Orders States Into Mission Mode to Stop Stubble Burning

The move targets rising farm fires in central states by ordering urgent district plans, machine repairs and stepped‑up ground patrols before the mid‑October to mid‑November peak.

Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Rural Development, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, held a meeting with the Agriculture Ministers of states in the Delhi-NCR region to discuss measures to prevent and control stubble burning in New Delhi on Tuesday.
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Farm fires are a major reason for pollution in northwestern India and the NCR. (AP/Representative)

Overview

  • A high‑level inter‑ministerial meeting chaired by Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Bhupender Yadav on Tuesday told Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi‑NCR to run mission‑mode operations to prevent stubble burning.
  • Officials reviewed data for September 15–October 12 that showed farm‑fire incidents surged in Madhya Pradesh from 55 to 277 and in Rajasthan from 20 to 60 while Haryana and Uttar Pradesh recorded year‑on‑year declines.
  • States were instructed to convene district magistrates to map hotspots, prepare special action plans, repair or redistribute idle crop‑residue machines and activate Custom Hiring Centres so small farmers can access equipment at low cost.
  • The Centre said it has supplied over 354,000 residue‑management machines and released Rs 4,266.47 crore under the Crop Residue Management scheme but central surveys found roughly 40% of older machines in Punjab and 48% in Haryana idle and fund utilisation slow.
  • Authorities said linking farmers to bioenergy markets, fodder uses and short‑duration seed varieties could give smallholders affordable clearing options that cut the need to burn and lower pollution risks for Delhi‑NCR.