LAHORE: The Punjab government has weighed in the issue of crop stubble burning, urging Indian Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to ban the practice that is behind the pollution crisis affecting large parts of both the countries.

Much of north India and adjoining districts of Pakistan have been enveloped by a thick haze for more than a week.

“We have imposed a ban on stubble burning in Punjab (Pakistan) & hope @capt_amarinder takes similar measures. Some of our medium/long term action plan to combat Smog are: https://punjab.gov.pk/node/2648 Environmental hazards threaten our people and habitat. Let us act fast to counter it,” said the Wednesday evening tweet from @GovtOfPunjab, the twitter account of the Punjab government, tagging Indian Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh, reported Hindustan Times on Friday.

The post quoted a tweet from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who too has urged action from Singh’s state and neighbouring Haryana.

Amarinder Singh has maintained that his state cannot handle the 200m tonne paddy straw generated by farmers who burn the remnants before sowing new crops in November.

A day after the tweets, Kejriwal wrote to the chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana, requesting a meeting to find a solution to the crop burning. But Amarinder rejected the meeting saying only the Union government can find a solution by giving financial help to farmers to handle the residue.

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2017