Four farmers, 10 officials to face the heat for farm fires in Karnal

Karnal, September 30

Four farmers from Karnal district will face the heat for burning stubble despite a ban after the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department lodged a police complaint against them.

Besides, Deputy Commissioner Anish Yadav has sought an explanation from 10 officials, including patwaris, village secretaries and agriculture officers, as several fire incidents have been reported in their respective villages.

The department has initiated steps against the farmers after the Haryana Space Application Centre (HARSAC) traced five incidents of farm fires in Barsat, Kambopura, Kutana and Gharaunda.

“We are watching closely the stubble burning cases in the district. Directions have been issued to officials to take immediate action against the errant farmers. The officials of the Agriculture Department along with the police, officials of the Departments of Revenue and Panchayati Raj have been keeping a vigil in the fields. They are taking action on farmers burning stubble, DC Yadav said.

DC Yadav said Section 144 of the CrPC has been imposed across the district, prohibiting burning of crop residue that causes air pollution.

“We are taking a follow-up of the cases reported so far and responsibility of the officials is being fixed,” the DC said, adding that sarpanches and numberdars have been asked to keep a vigil on residue burning cases in their respective villages. Notices will be served on sarpanches and numberdars if any case of stubble burning is reported from their villages. Karnal recorded one such case on Saturday, taking the tally of stubble burning cases to 13.

Deputy Director Agriculture Dr Wazir Singh said the department has been spreading awareness about the ill-effects of stubble burning among farmers. The department has been holding meetings in the villages. Village-level monitoring committees have been asked to increase vigil to control the number of cases.

A WhatsApp group has been created for people to share any information regarding such cases. Besides, a district-level control room has also been established.

Ensure smooth procurement

• Mukul Kumar, Director, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, on Saturday visited the Karnal grain market and reviewed the arrangements for paddy procurement
• He interacted with farmers and assured them that every grain would be procured. He also directed the officials of the department to ensure smooth procurement
• “We are making efforts to ensure that the farmers face no difficulty. Directions have been issued to the officials in this regard,” said the director

Kaithal DC reviews preparedness

Kaithal Deputy Commissioner Prashant Panwar on Saturday conducted a meeting to review the action plan of checking stubble burning cases in the district. He directed the officials present at the meeting to take strict action, including registration of FIRs, against farmers involved in crop residue burning.

26 cases reported in state

• As many as 26 fresh cases of crop residue burning were reported across the state on Saturday. With this, the total number of cases in the state this season has reached 75
• As per the data, of the total cases, 17 have been recorded in Kurukshetra, 13 in Karnal, 12 in Sonepat, 11 in Ambala, 7 in Yamunanagar, 5 in Fatehabad, 3 each in Panipat & Jind, 2 in Palwal and 1 each in Kaithal & Rohtak