India announces new plan to help farmers stem air pollution
After another winter marred by soaring air pollution levels, India's government has announced new measures to help tackle the problem in the country's northern regions.
Many experts have highlighted crop burning in the northern states of Punjab and Haryana as a key cause of the pollution crisis, leading India's finance minister Arun Jaitley to use the budget, announced Thursday, to present a new subsidy for farmers aimed at curbing the practice.
Every winter, farmers in northern India burn the stubble left over after the autumn harvest in order to quickly and cheaply clear the fields in time for the next planting.
photo credit: www.davidbaxendale.com