Accidental fires in Haryana fields wreak havoc

Deepender Deswal
Jind, April 14

Accidental fires have been inflicting a severe blow to farmers in several villages of the region in Jind, Hisar, Sirsa, Fatehabad and Bhiwani districts in the last couple of days.

Exact reason hard to determine

It’s not possible to trace the exact reason behind the farm fires. We remain on alert… There can be many reasons like spark in power lines and farm machinery or lighting a beedi. Farmers destroy crop residue, which too leads to fire. A fire official

According to reports, a major fire occurred in the fields of Akalgarh and adjoining Lijwana Kalan and Rindhana villages in Jind district, which destroyed about 300 acres of standing wheat crop.

A blaze gutted wheat crop on an acre in Sandlana village of Hisar district today. Fire incidents were also reported in Bhiwani and Fatehabad districts.

Ramphal Singh, sarpanch, Lijwana Kalan village in Jind district, said according to reports, fire started in the fields of Akalgarh village and engulfed crops in adjoining Lijwana Kalan and Sandlana villages. “Though the exact cause of the fire cannot be stated, it is being said that a spark in a thrasher machine ignited it. Strong winds too intensified the fire. By the time the fire tenders arrived, nearly 300 acres standing crop was reduced to ashes,” he stated.

The sarpanch said several families of farmers had suffered complete loss as they could not even garner their quota of grain for their family for the year. The villagers will try to help out these families. We hope that the state government too would chip in and compensate these farmers, he stated.

A farmer of Akalgarh village, Satnarayan, stated that a massive blaze had gutted about 100 acres of standing wheat crop in their village. “Fire is difficult to control once it gets started. Though we remain alert, sometimes negligence like lighting a beedi or a sudden spark in a farm machine results in fire,” he stated.

Fire incidents in Dhani Majra, Bhadoliawali and Kariwala villages in Sirsa district, in Fatehabad’s Dhani Dult and Tohana in Hisar’s Sandlana village and an incident in the Tosham region of Bhiwani had occurred in the past one week.

An Agriculture Department official in Jind said the crop damage due to fire was not covered under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY). “The state government can, however, compensate the farmers who have suffered losses as there are examples when the administration has provided some relief to the farmers,” he stated.

In Karnal district, a fire on April 10 in the fields of Kachwa village reduced several acres of standing crop and crop residue to ashes, causing losses to farmers.