Imposition of penalty fails to deter farmers

Our Correspondent

Samrala/Khamano May 11

The state government agencies are trying hard to stop farmers from burning stubble (crop residue) and registering cases against those indulging in practice.

Meanwhile, farmers are forced to continue with the practice as they have no alternative means to dispose of crop residue after harvest.

According to information 6,172 cases of stubble burning have been reported from all over the state during the last four days from different districts of Punjab. Among these, as many as 1,061 cases have been reported from the Tarn Taran district, followed by 798 in Amritsar apart from 349 in Gurdaspur, 452 in Moga and 362 in Ludhiana district.

In Fatehgarh Sahib district 33 cases of stubble burning have been reported out of which four are from Khamano subdivision.

In one case the police had registered a case against a farmer identified as Bhag Singh of Gaggarwal village. Officials are enquiring in one more matter in this regard. The BKU factions had come out in favour of farmers, who were suspected of burning stubble.

It had also come into notice that a law of the National Green Tribunal Act had come into force on December 10, 2015, to stop burning stubble and impose a fine of 2,500 per acre. The law also states that the government should help small farmers financially to dispose of stubble residue. But, the government is only taking action against farmers and is silent on giving any financial assistance.

Besides, the state government had demanded 1,074 crore from the Central government, but was still waiting for the assistance.

Pollution is spreading due to burning of stubble, but the state government is yet to finalise any proper map in this connection.

When contacted, the Bharti Kisan Union (BKU) president, Balvir Singh Rajewal, said the government had not supplied needed machinery to dispose of stubble and was only acting against farmers. He maintained that the BKU would protest against any action against farmers. He demanded proper financial help of farmers, including procurement of machinery, to end burning of stubble.

As per information a total of 12,132 cases were registered in the state and Rs 35 lakh fine was recovered from 966 farmers. The process was on to enquire the cause of stubble burning in 8,230 cases. As many as 2,936 cases had been identified for action.