Punjab, Haryana govts slow in acting against farmers burning stubble: SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said the Punjab and Haryana governments have been slow in taking action against farmers burning stubble and a mechanism was required to be devised for a long-term solution to the problem.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih said a machinery had to be set in motion to ensure 24/7 data was available.

"We propose to hear all the parties exhaustively. It is because of sowing done belatedly all this problem is happening. We want to go to the root of the matter and issue directions. Something needs to be done. Every year this problem cannot arise. From the data available, we can say both states are very slow in taking action against farmers," the bench remarked.

The apex court said everyone was "smart enough" to understand during certain times data was collected and they did not burn stubble at that time.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Centre, said ISRO was working on the protocol.

The bench took note of a media report related to Punjab wherein a land record officer and president of the Sangrur Block Patwari Union, reportedly admitted to advising farmers to burn stubble after 4 PM to avoid satellite detection.

Calling it "very serious" if the media report was to be believed, the court directed Punjab state officials to not permit farmers to take advantage of the fact that activities were being detected during the particular few hours of the day.

"The Punjab government should immediately issue instructions to all officers not to indulge in any such activities," it said.

The Centre previously opposed in the top court a proposal to form a committee of former apex court judges to oversee the implementation of measures to curb stubble burning, a key contributor to Delhi-NCR's air pollution.

In an order on November 18, the top court directed the Centre and the CAQM to procure data on farm fires using geostationary satellites, as opposed to NASA's polar-orbiting satellites, to ensure real-time monitoring.

The court noted existing data from NASA satellites was limited to specific time windows and directed the involvement of ISRO in utilising stationary satellites for comprehensive day-long monitoring.