New Delhi: The Supreme Court may have issued a series of directions mentioning tough measures to be implemented by the Centre and the Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh governments to tackle the worsening air quality of the NCR and its neighbouring regions, but that has not stopped a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government from chipping in with his own solution.
Sunil Bharala, minister of state for Labour Welfare Council in the BJP government, is of the opinion that “governments should hold ‘yagnas’ to please Indra, the rain god.”
In a widely-circulated video published by the news agency ANI, Bharala reasoned, “it must be done as it has been done traditionally. Lord Indra will set things right.”
#WATCH Uttar Pradesh minister Sunil Bharala: Farmers have always practiced stubble burning, it’s a natural system. Repeated criticism of it is unfortunate. Govts should hold ‘Yagya’ to please Lord Indra (God of rain), as done traditionally. He (Lord Indra) will set things right. pic.twitter.com/EcImGAbVrl
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 3, 2019
While the apex court has held that every government official, from chief secretaries of the state governments to the village panchayat head, would be made liable for the burning of crop stubble – one of the main reasons behind the drop in air quality and rising pollution levels in the region – Bharala has expressed disappointment that farmers were being stopped from this practice.
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“Farmers have always practiced stubble burning and it is a natural process. Repeated criticism of it is unfortunate,” he reportedly said. The minister added that since farmers cultivate crops like sugarcane, waste like stubble is inevitable and criticising them for burning it “is an attack on them”.
In August, as the Supreme Court was hearing the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case, Bharala gave a press statement, stating, “Temple of Lord Ram will be built during the tenure of chief minister Yogi Adityanath. He is a decisive man, he will be the one to build the temple with his own hands, he has apaar shakti (infinite power) in him.”