Karnal tops in defying stubble burning ban

KARNAL: Farmers of Karnal district are leading the list of the offenders who are defying the ban on stubble burning in the state. According to the Agriculture Department, 42 per cent stubble burning cases in the state are from Karnal, where the area under paddy is 1.7 lakh hectares.

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, October 9

Farmers of Karnal district are leading the list of the offenders who are defying the ban on stubble burning in the state.

According to the Agriculture Department, 42 per cent stubble burning cases in the state are from Karnal, where the area under paddy is 1.7 lakh hectares. The district produces 10 lakh MT paddy yearly.

Violations are rampant though Section 144 of the CrPC has been enforced and directions for strict action against violators have been issued by the government.

Of the 234 stubble burning cases reported in the state so far, Karnal reports 98 cases followed by Kurukshetra (51), Kaithal (45), Fatheabad (10) Ambala (7) and Jind (5). So far, 20 FIRs have been registered by the Agriculture Department.

Last year, 384 stubble burning cases were reported in the corresponding period.

To curb pollution in the state, Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR), the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has banned the stubble burning and instructed the government agencies to keep a vigil on it. The government also instructed the farmers no to burn the crop residue. To implement this order, the Deputy Commissioners concerned have impose CrPC Section 144.

“We are getting the FIRs registered against the offenders. The department is creating awareness among farmers about the ill effects of straw burning. Most of the farmers are well aware of its harmful effects, but some of them are still defying the NGT ban,” said Aditya Dabas, Deputy Director Agriculture.

He said the number of stubble burning cases has reduced as compared to last year as many farmers have adopted the practice of stubble management. “We have established 257 customer hiring centres in Karnal district and five farmer producer organisations. We have given subsidy to more than 1,000 farmers to purchase the stubble management agricultural equipment,” he added.

Drop in cases

There is a drop in the number of stubble burning cases as compared to last year (384 cases).

Reason: Most of the famers have opted for the practice of stubble management.

To control crop residue burning, the government has taken many initiatives: