71 challaned for farm fires in Bathinda

Bathinda, November 9

The administration has issued a challan to 71 farmers for resorting to stubble-burning in the district and has imposed a fine of Rs 2,12,500 on them.

As many as 2,612 farm fires have been reported from the district so far, of which 1,413 incidents have been reported in the past six days.

Teams of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) and the Agriculture Department are holding awareness camps in villages to sensitise farmers to the ill-effects of stubble-burning.

The PPCB has constituted teams and deputed coordinators in the district to ensure that the farmers do not set their farms afire. A nodal officer has been deployed in each village, who intimates coordinators in case of a farm fire in any village, but it seems despite all this, farmers continue to burn stubble.

Shingara Singh, a farmer union leader, said, “There isn’t much time between harvesting and sowing of paddy. Mixing paddy residue requires ploughing and a large quantity of diesel is needed for the process. The diesel cost has increased manifold due to which farmers are left with no option but to burn stubble. We also know that it is harmful.”

The PPCB takes the help of satellite imaging for identification of sites where stubble is set on fire. After getting the images of stubble-burning through the remote sensing technique, a team is sent to the spot to ascertain the area of the land on which the stubble has been set afire.

The team prepares a report and submits it to the office of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate from where it is sent to the PPCB for action.

26 ‘red entries’ for Over 1K cases in Faridkot

• Against 1,227 incidents of farm fire in the district, the Revenue Dept has made “Red Circle” entries in khasra and girdawari of only 26 farmers
• Measures to keep tabs on farmers burning stubble failed miserably in the district, according to a senior functionary of the PPCB
• There were two incidents of farmers holding visiting teams of revenue officials and agriculture department hostage for hours when the latter went to check stubble-burning in the district