Every year, as winter approaches, a familiar, toxic haze descends upon North India. The air becomes a thick, unbreathable soup, and headlines scream about pollution levels. And every year, the conversation circles back to stubble burning. This year, the Supreme Court has signaled that its patience has worn thin, hinting at arrests and severe penalties for those who continue the practice. While this strong stance is perhaps a necessary last resort, I see it as a monumental failure of our collective imagination and foresight.
We are now resorting to the stick because we failed to offer a meaningful carrot. The situation feels dire, a predictable crisis we've allowed to fester for far too long.
It reminds me of discussions I've been having for years about systemic shifts in how we view resources and energy. In a previous reflection on innovative energy solutions, Solar Spray on Your Walls, I touched upon the ideas from my earlier blog, Surya Ghar Muft Bijlee: 7-Year Journey. The core concept was to move beyond conventional thinking and build new infrastructures, like a Solar Energy Trading Infrastructure (SETI), to create value from distributed sources.
The parallels to the stubble burning crisis are striking. For years, my argument has been that to solve deep-rooted problems, we must change the underlying economic equation. The farmers aren't burning stubble out of malice; they are doing so because it is the most economically viable option for them in a system that has failed to provide a better alternative. The stubble is considered 'waste' only because we have not built the ecosystem to treat it as a 'resource'.
Reflecting on it today, I feel a sense of validation, but also a renewed urgency. Years ago, I advocated for creating systems that generate value from untapped potential. Had we invested in building a robust supply chain to convert agricultural residue into biofuel, sustainable packaging, or energy, the farmers would be earning from it, not burning it. The need for judicial intervention with threats of arrests is a direct consequence of this policy inertia. We are punishing the symptom because we ignored the disease.
It is a stark reminder that true, sustainable solutions are rarely punitive. They are innovative, incentive-driven, and transformative.
Call to Action
To our policymakers and industry leaders: let the Supreme Court's warning be a wake-up call, not just to enforce laws, but to fundamentally rethink the problem. Let us invest aggressively in the technology and infrastructure that converts agricultural waste into wealth. Let's create a market that pulls the stubble from the fields, rather than pushing farmers into a corner. The long-term solution isn't in penalizing farmers, but in empowering them to be part of a green, circular economy.
Regards,
Hemen Parekh
Of course, if you wish, you can debate this topic with my Virtual Avatar at : hemenparekh.ai
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