LUCKNOW: To prevent a situation similar to the smog crisis in Delhi caused by burning of stubble in fields of Punjab, Haryana and western UP, state cabinet minister for agriculture Surya Pratap Shahi has imposed with immediate effect ban on combined harvesters for wheat crops that leaves the stubble that eventually gets burned and pollutes the air. Farmers have been given three months to install reapers in their harvesting machines, failing which they could face punitive action.“Burning stubble not only pollutes the air, it kills the crop-friendly worms and bacteria in the soil,” said Shahi, speaking to TOI, expressing concern over the practice of farmers of rolling into the state combined harvesters from the adjoining states in every harvest season. These equipment cut the crop and abandon the stubble, which is eventually burned by farmers.Shahi also said the government’s priority was to bring relief to the parched Bundelkhand region from where a large number of farmer suicides have been reported. He said he visited Bundelkhand districts right after becoming minister and that the government was committed to guarantee potable water for humans and livestocks by arranging water tankers and building ponds and that the region will get special attention in the proposed new budget of the BJP.Shahi regretted that the previous Samajwadi Party government earmarked more than Rs 5,000 crore for compensation to farmers for damage to their crop by heavy rains and hailstorm in 2016 but did not disburse the funds. “I visited my home district Deoria this week and was taken aback to find that the compensation had not been disbursed to the farmers, and had remained in the district magistrate’s account,” said the minister, adding that he had sought details from the department.Shahi is a former president of state BJP and has served as excise minister in Rajnath Singh government when he had cracked down on liquor mafia.