Chiang Mai: The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment plans to reduce haze clouds in the rural north by establishing no-burning zones for 60 days in nine provinces.
Gen Dapong Rattanasuwan, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, said an awareness campaign to reduce burning activity during the haze season has been unsuccessful, since there are no strong measures to stop farmers setting fire to unwanted crops after the harvest.
New regulations will be implemented this year to solve the issue. Three ministries — Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Agricultural and Cooperatives and the Ministry of Interior — will be instructing farmers not to set fire to their fields during restricted periods.
Burning will be banned in Lamphun province from Feb 1 to April 30 and in Nan, Phrae and Lampang from Feb 1 to April 1. Fires will be banned in Phayao from Feb 14 to April 14 and in Tak between Feb 14 and April 13. Dates have not been set for Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. The peak period for haze pollution in the north is between February and April.
The ministry is preparing to send 10 proposals to the cabinet on the issue. The draft measures include establishing a single command in each province in charge of enforcement, setting up fire buffer zones in forest areas and forming response crews in the event of forest fires. The plans seek cooperation from locals to stop burning and invite meat produce companies to use unwanted crops for livestock feed.
The ministry says locals have used fire to clear protected zones in order to plant corn. After the harvest, rejected crops were set ablaze for the next plantation.
Environment ministry statistics show that 92% of fires happen in protected forest areas and 8% in agricultural areas. Half of the 30,897 recorded fires in 2013 happened in the North.
Gen Dapong said Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand have agreed to reduce the number of fires to less than 75,000 by 2020.
Sucharit Intraratidth, an inspector from the agriculture ministry, said artificial rain-making equipment had been prepared for reducing haze if necessary.
Wichien Jungrungraung, chief of the Department of Pollution Control, said air quality in the North is currently good.