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Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- General
- Hindustan Times
Haryana farm fire data highlights government's lapses
Despite repeated government assurances of robust control measures, Haryana recorded 1,828 farm fire complaints during the rabi season crop residue burning season that officially ended on May 31, exposing significant gaps in enforcement and compliance across the state. Data from the Haryana Space Applications Centre (HARSAC) reveals a season marked by high incident counts and monitoring failures, casting doubt on the efficacy of state-led efforts to curb crop residue burning. Hindustan Times teams visited more than 20 villages in May and witnessed over 50 active fires in a single day across prominent agricultural districts including Jind, Sirsa, Jhajjar, Hisar, Rohtak, Rewari, Gurugram, Nuh, and Mahendragarh. In smaller villages, entire fields spanning hundreds of acres were visibly scorched, suggesting widespread disregard for crop residue management guidelines. The agriculture department's Red Entry Summary Report recorded 2,301 confirmed fire incidents and 202 suspected cases across 18 districts as of May 3, 2025 — figures that far exceed officially acknowledged complaint logs. Jhajjar district topped the list with 1,004 cases, followed by Jind (259) and Sirsa (158).Urbanised zones like Gurugram and Nuh reported zero incidents, suggesting either exceptional compliance or chronic underreporting. Rabi crop residue burning, primarily involving wheat stubble after the April-May harvest, represents the lesser-known but significant second wave of agricultural fires that plague north Indian states annually. Unlike the heavily scrutinised rice stubble burning in October-November — which coincides with winter air pollution peaks and garners widespread attention — wheat residue burning occurs during summer months when better wind dispersion often masks its environmental impact. However, the practice remains equally damaging to soil health, contributes substantially to carbon emissions, and destroys valuable organic matter that could enrich farmland. The unchecked fires reveal persistent gaps in agricultural policy implementation, as farmers face similar time pressures to clear fields quickly before monsoon crop sowing, yet receive comparatively less government attention, subsidised machinery access, and enforcement oversight than during the more visible post-rice burning period. For farmers, an age old issue Farmers, largely unaffected by enforcement threats, openly set their fields ablaze, underscoring the ineffectiveness of current deterrents. Many villagers admitted to HT that there is virtually no fear of reprisal from local authorities. 'We understand the environmental damage, but the available alternatives remain prohibitively expensive and impractical for smallholder farmers like us,' said Rajbir Singh, a smallholder from Meham block in Rohtak, gesturing towards the charred fields behind him. 'Even renting or purchasing a rotavator—a basic, general purpose tillage machine—is simply beyond our means,' he added. Sunita Devi from Jhajjar's Mandothi village shared similar frustrations. 'Government officials keep announcing schemes and subsidies, but we hardly see any equipment in our villages. The paperwork is endless and machines are given only to large landholders.' In Jind district, Ramesh Lathar of Karsala village emphasised financial limitations. 'The incentives offered don't cover even half the cost of machines or labour needed. This is the only option to clear fields effectively before the wheat season begins.' Suresh Mann, another farmer from Bahu Akbarpur in Rohtak, said the entire system feels skewed against small cultivators. 'They want us to use expensive machines, but we barely earn enough to meet our daily expenses. Give us real help on the ground—machines, manpower, or even shared cooperatives. Until then, these fires will continue.' Meena Rani from Sirsa highlighted the urgency of time constraints farmers face. 'We barely have a few days between harvesting rice and sowing wheat. Without quick, affordable alternatives, burning remains the only viable method for us.' Baldev Singh, a farmer from Hisar's outskirts, highlighted weak enforcement as a critical factor. 'Authorities see the fires, they even drive past them, but no action is taken. Fines are rare, and monitoring is weak.' However, district officials maintain they are actively monitoring and taking action against violators. Former Rohtak deputy commissioner Dhirender Khadgata said the district administration took strict steps during the 2024-25 Rabi season. HARSAC flagged 89 active fire locations in Rohtak, with 43 confirmed as stubble burning incidents. FIRs were lodged in 43 cases, and fines of ₹5,000 per violation were imposed in 40 instances. 'We are actively monitoring the situation. Enforcement teams have been deployed, fines levied, and legal action initiated wherever necessary,' Khadgata said. Former Jhajjar deputy commissioner Pardeep Dahiya said his administration identified 90 active fire locations and registered 11 FIRs against violators. 'Farmers found guilty will be barred from selling their crop to government procurement agencies for two harvest seasons,' he said. HT reached out to the DCs currently in charge of the districts but didn't get a comment till the time of print. Nuh deputy commissioner Vishram Kumar Meena said the district recorded fewer incidents due to swift action. 'Two cases were reported last week and we took swift action against those responsible. The incidents are not recorded by the safelight but we had received several complaints,' he said. Despite official claims of zero incidents in Gurugram and Nuh, farmers from these districts paint a different picture. Mahesh Yadav of Gurugram district said many farmers still aren't fully informed about the damaging effects of burning stubble. 'There needs to be more targeted educational outreach at the grassroots level.' In Nuh, farmer Ayesha Khan emphasised the practical challenge. 'The government must offer real, accessible support. Without it, farmers find it impossible to change their age-old practices.' Vikram Malik from Pataudi summed up farmers' sentiments clearly. 'Until practical, affordable solutions reach our fields, burning will continue, no matter what the government says.' An ecological crisis unfolds Environmental activists warn that persistent stubble burning causes severe ecological damage and public health risks. 'Small villages receive little effective awareness outreach. Farmers remain unaware of long-term environmental harm, and there's no real fear of punishment,' said activist Roma J Vinayak. Vaishali Rana, an environmentalist from Gurugram, expressed concern about air pollution impacts. 'Rural awareness drives barely scratch the surface. It's not enough to run campaigns only in big towns or district headquarters.' The ecological toll extends beyond air quality. Birders and conservationists report distressing scenes of wildlife casualties in scorched fields. Rakesh Ahlawat, a birder from Dighal village in Jhajjar, found four damaged eggs and three dead baby birds in a single field. 'Hundreds of trees have been scorched. It's heartbreaking to witness innocent birds die like this every season.' Agriculture minister Shyam Singh Rana said monitoring is underway and most reported incidents have been found accidental. 'Action is being taken according to rules against farmers found deliberately burning crop residue. Agriculture Department officials have been deployed to investigate incidents on the ground.' Despite various policy measures, including strict fines and enforcement drives, ground-level actions remain largely symbolic. The persistent gap between official assurances and reality underscores the need for stronger policy implementation and genuine follow-through on alternatives that reach farmers in a timely, affordable manner. 'At HARSAC, we monitor stubble burning incidents in real-time through high-resolution satellite imagery and share geo-tagged alerts, complete with time-stamped visuals, directly with district administrations to enable immediate action,' said Dr Sultan Singh, director, Haryana Space Applications Centre (HARSAC). He added: 'While this system has significantly strengthened surveillance across Haryana and helped curb large-scale burning, there remain serious gaps — especially in districts like Gurugram and Nuh, where we've received anecdotal and media reports of fires, yet no corresponding satellite detections were recorded. This can happen due to limitations such as cloud cover, fires set during night hours, or small-scale burnings that fall below the detection threshold. It is critical that local enforcement officials supplement satellite inputs with ground-level vigilance and community reporting mechanisms to ensure that such incidents are not overlooked. Without bridging this visibility gap, we risk severely underestimating the ecological damage and losing the trust of affected communities.'
Hindustan Times
05-05-2025
- Science
- Hindustan Times
Haryana launches AI-enabled water atlas amid alarming groundwater crisis
In an effort to tackle its deepening water crisis, the Haryana Water Resources (Conservation, Regulation and Management) Authority (HWRA) has launched the Haryana Water Resource Atlas 2025—an artificial intelligence-powered, geospatial platform aimed at monitoring, managing, and conserving the state's fast-depleting water reserves, officials said. Developed in collaboration with the Haryana Space Applications Centre (HARSAC), the platform is publicly accessible at and provides real-time, layered insights into groundwater levels, surface water bodies, canal systems, aquifers, recharge zones, and water-intensive cropping patterns. The initiative comes as internal assessments show that over 76% of Haryana's administrative blocks are classified as either 'critical' or 'over-exploited' in terms of groundwater use—signalling a dire need for informed, data-driven interventions, officials added. 'This isn't just a static map—it's an evolving AI-based monitoring system,' said Dr Sultan Singh, head of GIS at the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and director at HARSAC. 'It lets anyone from a district officer to a farmer know what's happening underground and above, in near-real time. It helps forecast stress points and plan for solutions like water harvesting, alternate cropping, and infrastructure upgrades.' clarified that most of the datasets—particularly those related to the water table and soil profiles—will not undergo annual revisions. 'This is not dynamic data that changes every year. In fact, for key indicators like groundwater depth and soil composition, updates will typically be needed only once in a decade,' he said. Dr. Singh added that this is the state's first attempt at creating a comprehensive, AI-enabled geospatial water atlas and that a robust technical upkeep mechanism is being designed in collaboration with relevant stakeholders. 'We are working on a sustainable model for long-term maintenance of the atlas. There won't be any significant changes for at least five years. Any required technical adjustments or improvements will be made based on stakeholder input and evolving needs,' he assured. According to officials, the atlas integrates data from satellite observations, GPS surveys, meteorological inputs, agricultural records, and administrative sources, drawing on contributions from HARSAC, the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), the Irrigation and Water Resources Department, the Agriculture Department, and the India Meteorological Department. The platform is being positioned as a tool for use across stakeholder groups—urban planners, engineers, farmers, researchers, and civil society members. Its user interface allows navigation through thematic maps and dashboards designed to track water stress across districts and blocks, particularly in zones vulnerable to over-extraction or erratic rainfall. According to officials, the Haryana Water Resource Atlas 2025 has been developed entirely in-house by the Haryana Space Applications Centre (HARSAC), without incurring any additional financial burden on the state exchequer. 'There was no separate budget or external funding allocated for this project. The entire design, conceptualisation, development, and mapping process has been carried out by HARSAC using its own institutional expertise,' said Dr. Sultan Singh. He added that HARSAC, with over 25 years of experience in geospatial and remote sensing technologies, leveraged its technical resources and existing infrastructure to execute the project. 'This is a multi-million-dollar equivalent effort in terms of value, but since all components—from digital data processing to thematic mapping—were completed internally, it is not possible to calculate a precise financial figure,' Dr. Singh said. The data has also been validated by domain experts and relevant stakeholders, ensuring both scientific accuracy and operational utility. Officials emphasised that this self-reliant model not only kept costs down but also ensured complete control over data quality and platform architecture, making it a sustainable initiative with minimal long-term financial implications for the government. Officials say the platform is part of a shift toward long-overdue digital governance in water resource management. But while the launch has been praised in some circles, environmental experts remain cautious. 'It's a much-needed intervention,' said an expert from IIT Roorkee, requesting anonymity. 'But the data needs to translate into accountability and grassroots planning—only then can Haryana address the crisis meaningfully,' the expert added. The platform's creators have urged public participation to help improve the tool's accuracy and usability. 'Citizen engagement is key to this initiative's success. We want RWAs, urban planners, village leaders, and school educators to use this platform and share how it can better serve their regions,' said Dr Singh. While the initiative marks a technological leap for Haryana, it also comes at a time when parts of the state are battling erratic rainfall, rapid urban expansion, and declining aquifer recharge rates. Despite the state's track record of water-intensive cropping and weak enforcement of groundwater regulations, officials have not detailed how data from the atlas will feed into enforceable policy or penalties for misuse.
