Impact of laws, awareness and local participation in prevention and control of crop residue burning: A case study of bathinda district

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Date

2018

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Central University of Punjab

Abstract

The present study entitled 'Impact of Laws, Awareness and Local Participation in Prevention and Control of Crop Residue Burning: A Case Study of Bathinda District' is an attempt to explore the serious environmental and agricultural issue of 'crop residue burning' in relation to 'laws, awareness and local participation' in Punjab. Crop residue burning is one of the significant sources of air pollution particularly during harvesting season. It is important to mitigate impacts of burning of crop residue in open fields and its effect on soil, air and living organisms. It adversely affects the air quality, leads to nutrient loss, degrade soil properties and cause waste of residue that is now considered tremendous resource worldwide. There are various laws to control air pollution in India, including, Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981; The Environment Protection Act 1986; Biological Diversity Act 2002; National Green Tribunal Act 2010 and various provisions are also available under other Acts such as Criminal Procedure Code, Civil Procedure Code and Indian Penal Code. Under these different Acts, various provisions are made to protect the environment from all kinds of pollution generated by industrial and agricultural activities. Disposal of crop residue in a very short time available between harvesting of rice and sowing of wheat is a potential problem for the agriculturists in the rice-wheat cropping pattern, which is widely practiced in all the districts of Punjab. Other available options lack motivation and feasibility and farmers find it easier to opt for burning the residue in open fields. The impact of existing laws, awareness and local participation is very less as compared to the severity of the issue. The impact of crop residue burning need to be arrested fast through various strategic policies, scientific, technical, social and legal measures for sustaining and protecting environment and agricultural resources of the state.

Description

Keywords

Crop residue burning, Laws on pollution control, Government policy, Environmental pollution, Happy seeder

Citation

Sidhu, Ramandeep Singh (2014) Impact of laws, awareness and local participation in prevention and control of crop residue burning A case study of bathinda district.