Stubble burning isn’t a Delhi problem—farmers face everything from respiratory disease to soil degradation, and there’s no easy way out
The fire crackles and hisses through the dry straw. Its flames, furious red ribbons of light, want to leap and fly. They do just for a moment, before the farmer takes cover, and spreads the straw to bring down the 4-feet-high flames to a more manageable level. The fire loses height but gains speed. It runs through the 3-acre farm inside 20 minutes and clears the soil of anything living. As it calms down, it leaves a layer of ash in its wake that covers the earth. Millions of tiny particles cling on to the farmer’s clothes.
The fire also …
Pradip is a co-founder at The Morning Context and leads our newsletters vertical. He has previously worked at The Ken as a staff writer, at Mint as an assistant features editor and the Deccan Chronicle as a copy editor. He works with a slew of expert newsletter writers across subjects and domains. His own writing spans the gig economy, farmers caught in the crossfire of technology, global warming and parents trapped in the edtech wave. Some of his best stories have come at the intersection of technology and human endeavour.
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