New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal today
directed the Centre and the governments of five northern
states to come up with definitive workable solutions to stop
stubble burning, including using crop residue in power plants.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar
asked the Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh
governments to convene a meeting on November 28 to work out a
clear mechanism on transportation and use of stubble as fuel
in power plants.
It directed that this meeting would be attended by the
secretary of Ministry of Agriculture, Additional Secretary of
Ministry of Energy and Energy, principal secretaries in
Ministry of Agriculture of the respective states, senior
scientist from Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, Managing Director
of National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of
India Ltd and CMD of NTPC and proper technical staff.
During the hearing, the NTPC told the bench that it was
willing to use crop residue in pellet form in its power
plants with permissible moisture content as it would not be
possible to use the residue directly as a source for fuel in
these plants.
The bench said the meeting shall deliberate "whether
every State should or should not be directed to establish its
own pelletisation plant for every agriculture residue to make
it fit for utilisation as fuel in the thermal power plant run
by NTPC."
"It shall also be considered if the states can be granted
liberty to invite private players who can establish such
plants in the respective states," the green panel said.
The tribunal asked them to recommend a mechanism for
transportation of agriculture residue, excluding the residue
left in the field for manure, and the incentives which could
be provided to the farmers.
"Every State would submit a list before the Secretary of
Agriculture of the thermal power plants or biomass based
energy plants which are being run or are proposed to be
constructed in the respective states," the bench said.
It asked the states to consider whether the utilisation
of agriculture residue as a fuel can be effective alternative
for power generation.
The minutes of the meeting should be submitted to the
NGT before December 6 without default and delay, it said.
The NTPC, in its submissions, said in the six power
plants located in North India, the demand for the thermal
plants would be 8,000 to 15,000 metric tonnes per day.
The NGT was hearing a plea by environmentalist Vikrant
Tongad who had sought a ban on burning of agricultural waste
and remnants in open fields.
The NGT had earlier said, "We expect no individual, body,
department, panchayat, association to directly or indirectly
recommend or promote burning of crop residue in Punjab, UP and
Haryana."
It had said the "serious" issue of stubble burning by
farmers was still going on and had sought the response of the
Centre and the Punjab and Haryana governments on the issue.
The NGT had warned the governments of the Punjab,
Haryana, UP and Rajasthan governments that it would stop
payment of salaries of their officials if they failed to come
up with an action plan to prevent stubble burning, which has
been triggering heavy pollution in Delhi-NCR.
