Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Saturday attended a meeting on stubble management chaired by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, and Agriculture Ministers from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.

They urged in the meeting to the three states to ban firecrackers in order to curb pollution.

During the meeting Rai said, “I have appealed to the centre and state ministers to take measures against the bursting of firecrackers during Diwali, which combined with stubble burning suddenly spikes pollution levels post-Diwali in the Delhi-NCR”.

Stating about the meeting, Rai asserted, He said, “The meeting was very positive, and we believe that although it has come late, if all governments work actively now, we will succeed in reducing the impending threat of pollution, thereby lessening the crisis on people’s breathing.”

During the meeting, Rai also raised the demand for artificial rainfall in Delhi. “I appealed to both the Union Agriculture Minister and the Union Environment Minister to hold a meeting regarding this and the minister has assured us that this request will be considered positively in the meeting,” he added.

During the meeting, Punjab Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian also presented a report detailing stubble-burning incidents in the state. The report indicated that by October of the previous year, around 5,500 instances of stubble burning had already taken place in Punjab.

He added, “Stubble burning is also happening in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. There has been an increase in these incidents in certain districts compared to 2022, and efforts need to be actively made in these areas.”

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