2.9K farm fire plaints filed in Haryana in 3 yrs

Chandigarh, December 22

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A total of 2,943 farm fire cases have been registered in Haryana in the past three years (2019 to 2021), while 736 farmers have been arrested. Besides, a fine of Rs 2.22 crore has been recovered.

The state government submitted these facts in reply to a question by INLD general secretary and Ellenabad MLA Abhay Singh Chautala.

2021 saw just 100 cases against farmers for farm fires, while the number was 868 in 2020 and 1,975 in 2019.

Among districts, Jind leads with 954 police complaints in the past three years, followed by Fatehabad (724) and Karnal (664). Surprisingly, no case has been registered in Gurugram, Mahendragarh, Nuh, Faridabad, Jhajjar and Sonepat. The arrests have been made against erring farmers only in Fatehabad (723) and Rohtak (13).

Meanwhile, maximum fine of Rs 47.90 lakh was paid by farmers from Kaithal in the past three years, followed by Fatehabad (Rs 37.38 lakh) and Sirsa (Rs 32.65 lakh).

According to the data collected by the Haryana State Pollution Control Board, 6,630 farm fires were reported in the state in 2019, which rose to 9,751 in 2020, implying a rise of 47.1%. But in 2021, 6,987 incidents were reported, showing a decline of 28.3% over the previous year.

As per the statement of the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, before the Rajya Sabha on December 9, a central scheme on the ‘Promotion of Agricultural Mechanisation for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue in the States of Punjab, Haryana, UP and NCR of Delhi’ is being implemented from 2018-19. Under this scheme, financial aid is provided to the farmers. — TNS