The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought a response from the Punjab government on a plea seeking directions for the mandatory attachment of a specialised machine to the harvester to curtail paddy straw burning.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Augustine George Masih issued notice to the state government and sought its response on the plea filed by Avtar Singh Phagwara, who runs NGO Sampuran Kheti Puran Rozgar.

The petitioner said that Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, had recently invented the "surface seeding-cum-mulching" machine, which is attached with the combined harvester while harvesting paddy.

"This machine does the mulching of the straw and simultaneously the wheat crop is sown. According to the scientists of Punjab Agricultural University, usage of this machine will halt paddy straw burning," the plea claimed, adding that despite successful trials, the Punjab government was not promoting it.

The top court further asked the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to respond to the plea.

Senior advocate H S Phoolka, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that this machine was both economical and easily implementable, requiring minimal machinery and tractors with less horsepower.

The petition contended that the cost of the machine was around Rs 1.20 lakh compared to a super-seeder, which cost Rs 2.50 lakh.

"The Punjab government is giving subsidy of Rs 1 lakh on the super-seeder, but does not promote this new machine at all, which is way more economical and simpler, and more efficient," the plea stated.

The petitioner argued that the super-seeder requires a 50 HP (horsepower) tractor attracting a higher operational cost.

"The small farmers normally have a tractor of 25 HP. In fact, the small farmer can neither buy the costly machines like the super-seeder nor afford the costly operational costs," added the plea.

The petitioner has also sought directions to the vice-chancellor of the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, to place the results of the trial of the machine before the top court.

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