Taking a strict note of the seriousness of pollution spread through stubble-burning, the Chief Justice questioned why the authorities are not thinking about penal provisions to address this issue. "If some people are behind bars, it will send the correct message. Why don't you think of some penalty provisions for the agriculturists? If you have a real intention of protecting the environment, then why shy away?"

The Chief Justice added, “Farmers are special, and we are eating because of them... but it does not mean that they can take advantage.” However, the CJI advised to adopt Carrot and Stick policy to tackle stubble burning.

Expressing dismay at the Supreme Court's stance on Wednesday, the All-India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) considers this an insensitive gesture towards farmers who are already reeling under unprecedented floods in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.

In a press release on September 19, AIKS stated that farmers' organizations have been stressing the urgency for governments to develop alternative stubble management options rather than relying on punitive measures like imposing fines or arresting farmers.

AIKS reminds, “It should be recalled that the Union Agriculture Ministry, in a written communication to the SKM on 9 December 2021, had explicitly stated that the act of stubble burning would not attract criminality in the future.”

The Punjab state committee of Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta Dakonda has also expressed strong displeasure over the comments of the Supreme Court. In a press statement on September 20, the organization's general secretary Harnek Singh Mahima said that as per the recommendations of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), each state government will set up a system for collecting, transporting and utilizing straw at its own expense. The state government and the Pollution Control Board will provide machinery and other assistance to small farmers so that they can remove the straw from their fields and transport it to a designated place in the district.

Thus, it is the duty of the state government and the pollution control to designate a place in the district for collecting straw. The work of collecting and transporting straw is to be done at government expense. But neither any machinery comes to collect straw in the fields nor is the straw milled. Due to this, farmers are forced to set fire to make the fields fallow.

The AIKS reiterates the factual position that stubble burning is not the sole cause of environmental pollution. Other major polluting factors include industries, transport, firecrackers during October festivals, and construction activities are also contributing to the environment pollution.

The state president of Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta Dakonda, Manjit Singh Dhaner, says that perhaps the courts feel that all the pollution in the country is caused by Punjabis burning stubble. No one has any objection to the pollution caused by factories, vehicles, thermal plants and diesel generators in the Delhi region, and construction activities. Except for one month of stubble burning, the pollution in Punjab is less than the prescribed limit, but Delhi's pollution even then crosses the red line.

According to the organization's state senior vice president Gurdeep Singh Rampura, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air has stated in its report that the share of pollution generated by thermal plants within a radius of 300 km of Delhi is 16 times more than that of stubble. In the past, the NGT itself has said that the stubble smoke of Punjab has no impact on the pollution in the Delhi region. Apart from this, neither the central government nor any state government implements the recommendations of the NGT.

The state vice presidents of the organization, Harish Nadda and Amandeep Singh Lalton, said that the environmental experts have proven that stubble burning accounts for only 6% of the pollution. The leaders said that the corporate houses that are responsible for 94% of the pollution should be brought to book.

The AIKS strongly believes that given the current flood situation, farmers and agricultural workers have suffered colossal damages in terms of lives, crops, and livestock etc and there is still not much respite the Supreme Court should have shared the ordeal faced by farmers rather than depicting them as criminals with threats of putting them behind bars.

The AIKS urges the Supreme Court to take a holistic view of environmental pollution and instruct the governments to take comprehensive appropriate measures to improve it.

As the CJI himself has advised to adopt Carrot and Stick policy to tackle the stubble burning and giving them the carrot first, so, the governments should adopt the carrot first method and help the already distressed farmers leniently and request the SCI to have a softened view. (IPA Service)