Punishing farmers will not end husk burning, says Supreme Court

New Delhi: Husk burning in Punjab and Haryana is a “huge problem” causing pollution in and around Delhi but taking punitive action against the farmers was not a solution to resolve the issue, the Supreme Court was told on Friday.

Arguing before a bench of Justices M.B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta, senior advocate Harish Salve, assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the air pollution matter, said that farmers have a genuine problem and their plight should be understood.

“There is a huge problem of husk burning in Punjab. In Haryana also, farmers are burning husk. We have to plan a solution for this problem. It is polluting Delhi and NCR,” Mr Salve told the bench. He said the government should provide trains and trucks to remove these husks so that it is not burnt by the farmers.

“We understand the plight of farmers. Putting them in jail cannot be done. They have a genuine problem but at the same time, the city is choking due to this,” Mr Salve said. During the hearing, the court said it would first deal with a report of the Environment Pollu-tion Control Authority relati-ng to comprehensive acti-on plan for air pollution control with the objective to meet ambient air quality in the Delhi-NCR, including Haryana, Rajasthan and UP.

The bench said as per the report, two issues, including the scheduled implementation of BS VI emission standards, were required to be dealt with by it.