Vikram Yadav and His Initiative Reduced the Stubborn Burning By 80% in Ambala
The stubborn burning in Ambala has been reduced by 80% recently. The initiative was started in 2021 by IAS Officer Vikram Yadav. In winter, Delhi is clouded with fog however, don’t mistake it for actual fog because it is not. It is indeed smog and pollution that covers Delhi in winter. Stubborn burning across the northern states of Punjab and Haryana is one of the many factors involved in causing the site.
Of course, this smog carries a lot of toxins which becomes a matter of concern because of the health issues it creates. From minor to major, the residents often suffer ill health effects. Moreover, festivals contribute to this pollution additionally. For example, 2022’s Diwali caused an AQI of 303 the next morning.
Why do farmers opt the stubborn burning?
Now apart from the pollution and festivals, the stubborn burning is like added fuel to the fire. It is not concerning for Delhi only but for Punjab and Haryana as well. Before Vikram Yadav took part in the reduction of stubborn burning, 5,328 incidents of farm fires were witnessed in Ambala. After he became the IAS officer in the district of Ambala in 2021, his efforts brought down the stubborn burning by 80%.
This was not something that happened overnight or a single alternative changed it. To tell you the deep roots of farm fire and its necessity among the farmers are the reason for its being a cheap and time-effective solution. Until there is no alternative, the farmers have to clear and prepare the land for planting the crop. The crop plantation basically happens during the Rabi season.
The farmers moreover opt for burning because of the short gap between the seasons. This method indeed prepares the ground for the next harvest overnight. Whereas, the other methods can take up to one month. Thus, due to a lack of time and good fast methods, the framers choose stubborn burning as their go-to source.
What did Vikram Yadav’s initiative change?
Soon after joining the Ambala district administration, Vikram Yadav took the task of finding the solutions to this major concern. Thus, his move was to organise awareness camps and training programs before the harvest season. Interestingly, this move proved to be successful because a reduction in burning was noticed without a single FIR.
With the second move, they marked the areas of fire farms as red and yellow zones. The red zone indicated more than 6 farm fires in a year whereas the yellow one had up to 5. Again, this method also brought some fruitful results as the red zone decreased by 8 areas and 89 in the yellow zone. Vikram and his team knew that more efforts were needed to bring down the red zones to zero.
More efforts to bring down the number of farm fire
Hence, they introduced seeder machines and subsidised government equipment. Moreover, they even introduced shedders for appropriately managing waste. The team furthermore provided the farmers with a hydraulic plough and a rotary washer to turn crop residue into fertiliser. They were additionally provided cash for selling the stubble to power plants as well.
These alternatives gave positive results. In other words, only 146 of the incidents were found in 2021 unlike in 2020 where 702 cases took place. There is a conspicuous difference between the time and incidents of 2020 and 2021 after Vikram’s showing up with his efforts. According to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, the lowest number of farm fires has been recorded in Haryana since 2020.
They furthermore stated that this year only 34% of farm fires contributed to the pollution compared to last year’s which was 48%. Even though at present Yadav is the district collector of Faridabad, his initiative and methods have become a source of inspiration for other administrators. Most importantly, Yadav wishes that his initiative remains unshakable for the many coming years so that the farm fire can be diminished entirely.
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Author: Simran K Parmar
A post graduate in English Literature, secular humanist, critical thinker, an outspoken atheist, follower of equality and a lover of philosophy. craftedfashion94@gmail.com
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