The Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjacent Areas (Imposition, Collection and Utilization of Environmental Compensation for Stubble Burning) Amendment Rules 2024 were notified on Wednesday and made public on Thursday.

On the same day, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) also issued an order asking states to implement the directions and impose revised environmental compensation with immediate effect.

“The Commission, through its order dated November 7, has authorized all the nodal officers/supervisors appointed by the respective governments in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, the State of Punjab, the State of Haryana and the areas NCR of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to levy and collect environmental duties. Compensation (EC) for farmers who pollute the air by burning stubble, according to the revised rates. This order should be implemented by the respective state governments with immediate effect,” the statement said.

Under these rules, farmers with plots of less than two acres will be fined. $5,000 for each incidence of stubble burning, compared to $2,500.

Those who have plots of more than two hectares but less than five will be fined $10,000 and farmers with more than five acres of land will have to pay $30,000 per incident.

The rules were first notified in 2023.

The notification also provides a format for imposing fines on farmers for stubble burning. These include requiring state officials to note details of the farmer, including his name, house number, street, village, tehsil, district, contact details, land details (including khasra, khewat and khatoni numbers), along with the estimated area. The EC must also have the farmer’s signature.

The move came at a time when air quality in the capital is spiraling downwards – it was 377 in the Central Pollution Control Board’s 4pm bulletin on Thursday, and at 10pm had deteriorated to 382 (24-hour average), the peak of the “severe” zone that starts at 400.

Farmers in northern India set fire to the stubble of their rice fields after the season’s harvest to clear their plots before the winter harvest. However, smoke from these fires travels hundreds of kilometers towards Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), shrouding the area in a gray haze and exposing even healthy people to a host of dangerous diseases.

Last year, Punjab recorded 36,632 across the state between September 15 and November 15. It registered 49,922 in 2022, 71,159 in 2021, 83,002 in 2020 and 55,210 in 2019.

The CAQM, despite HT’s inquiries, did not share data or comment on the fines imposed so far.

However, farmers insisted that they needed help from the government to eliminate this practice.

Harinder Singh, state president of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal) in Punjab, said cases of farm fires “are decreasing”.

“Farmers are willing to cooperate and simply need help. Even now, we do not receive any subsidies and it is the small farmers – with land less than two acres – who are suffering. Not everyone has access to machines that remove rice stubble. Also, it is difficult to use these machines to remove stubble in smaller fields,” he said.

Others also said farmers should be incentivized, rather than penalized.

“Wealthier farmers with larger plots can get machines and can even pay bailiffs to remove the waste. Small farmers are the ones who now burn their leftover waste and they are the ones who are likely to suffer. We are asking for financial help, of approximately $200 per quintal of rice stubble sold,” said Balkarn Brar, state president of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) in Bathinda, Punjab.

Experts said stubble management plans need to be more holistic.

“It is more important to have facilitators. For example, farmers should have timely access to straw handling machinery, so the list should be well managed. There are two ways to manage stubble: in situ, where the straw is used on the farm, and ex situ, where the stubble is transported to make pellets, etc. For ex situ strategies, support for storage and transportation is needed. For example, after the CAQM banned the use of coal as fuel in the Central African Republic, the use of biomass increased and the price also increased. But farmers are not benefiting from this as storage and transportation remain challenges,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of the Center for Science and Environment.

Delhi’s AQI has been above 300 (very poor) since October 30. The contribution of stubble burning to Delhi’s PM 2.5, small particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less, was 20.3% on Tuesday, according to data calculated by the Decision Support System. based on actual fire counts. A day before it was 23.3%. On November 1, agricultural fires were estimated to have contributed a seasonal high of 35.1% of Delhi’s PM 2.5 load.