A month has passed since the Aam Aadmi Party registered a historic victory in the Punjab Assembly election. The Punjab Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government made headlines for many reasons in the last one month. Last week, the Punjab governmebnt announced free electricity up to 300 units for all residents, as promised in the AAP election manifesto. Before implementing this decision, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann sent the top state bureaucrats to meet with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Several opposition politicians slammed Mann and claimed that he was being remote-controlled by Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
Collaborations between states on important issues of policy are not new. If Kejriwal wants to give a message that Punjab and Delhi should work together, then the best issue should be air pollution. This year, Delhi has witnessed an unprecedented early heatwave and the COVID lockdown will likely be absent during Diwali. So, the pollution situation could be worse. It is the best opportunity for the AAP to demonstrate the capabilities of its governance model. To accomplish this, Kejriwal and Mann must collaborate and present a plan of action to address stubble burning in Punjab.
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The Politics Of Air Pollution In India
Air pollution is a major issue in the North Indian states. However, Delhi particularly finds itself in the eye of the storm every winter, given that it is the country’s capital. According to the recently released World Air Quality Report, Delhi is the most polluted capital in the world. But in India, the issue of air pollution is also political. Over the past several years, Delhi and Punjab governments have been at loggerheads over this issue. The AAP-led Delhi government has always maintained that uncontrolled stubble burning by Punjab farmers is the primary cause of the capital’s air pollution. Until early this year, Punjab had a Congress government, but today the situation has changed. The Aam Aadmi Party is in power in both states. The politics of blaming each other will not work from this year onwards.
Last month, Union Minister for Environment Bhupender Yadav told the Lok Sabha that the Arvind Kejriwal government would have to deal with the issue of air pollution by themselves. Every year, citizens of Delhi and Northern India are forced to breathe toxic air as a result of the political blame games.
A Collaborative Study On Sources Of Pollution Needed
Now, as both Punjab and Delhi are under the AAP government, a collaborative study must take place to understand the sources of pollution. Last year, the Delhi government had approved a real-time pollution source monitoring system that the Punjab government could adopt. Both governments must accept that they do not know how much pollution stubble burning causes. The AAP government has always looked for reports which claim that stubble burning is the key reason behind Delhi’s pollution woes in winter. But this time, the party will have to change its strategy. If a collaborative study by both governments is undertaken on contribution of stubble burning to Delhi’s air pollution, then it will be path-breaking work.
Implementation of Pusa Bio Decomposer Crucial
Last year, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal brought the Pusa Bio Decomposer technique to Delhi. The Indian Agricultural Research Institute developed this bio decomposer. This is a more cost-effective alternative to stubble burning. The Delhi CM had also urged the Centre to direct neighbouring states to adopt this method.
The Aam Aadmi Party believes that lack of political will was one of the key reasons behind unchecked stubble burning. Implementation of the bio decomposer technique in Punjab can end this debate. However, the execution of this technique must be done carefully. According to several experts, this decomposer only works for early measuring varieties of paddy. The decomposing technique takes around 30 days. Therefore, using this technique can be a challenge in districts like Sangrur, where late measuring paddy varieties are present.
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Opportunity For Kejriwal to Showcase AAP Governance Model
The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party has done significant work in the development of the state education system in Delhi. Collaboration in combating air pollution will provide Kejriwal with a good opportunity to present the AAP model of governance. To begin with, Punjab and Delhi governments can form an expert committee or task force to develop a collaborative action plan to combat air pollution.
Punjab government will have to act on the issue of farmers’ support tactfully. The AAP supported the farmers’ protest, which was a major factor in its victory in the Assembly election. It will be difficult to persuade farmers to use the more cost-effective alternative of stubble burning. If the AAP government tries to penalise farmers for not adopting such techniques, farmers could agitate.
It will be a test for the Bhagwant Mann government whether or not it can bring the farmers around to use the Pusa Bio Decomposer technique and collaborate on checking stubble burning.
The author is an independent journalist based in Kolkata and a former policy research fellow at Delhi Assembly Research Center. He tweets as @sayantan_gh. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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