THE SUPREME COURT TODAY called for a ‘carrot and stick’ approach to curb the practice of stubble burning, stressing that while farmers are important since “we eat because of them,” the environment too has to be protected.
Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, heading a bench with Justice K. Vinod Chandran, observed that “farmers are special and we are eating because of them but it does not mean that we cannot protect the environment,” while pressing for punitive measures including penalties and jail terms to deter the practice.
“Why don't you think of some penalty provisions? If some people are behind bars, it will send the correct message,” the Bench suggested.
Stubble burning involves setting fire to residual paddy straw to clear fields for the sowing of wheat. Farmers resort to this as the interval between harvesting paddy and sowing wheat is short.
The observations came during the hearing on filling vacancies in the State Pollution Control Boards of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. The Court gave three months to fill the vacant posts.
