With 677 cases, Fatehabad tops in stubble-burning

Deepender Deswal

Hisar, November 13

The stubble burning continues unabated in paddy-growing districts of the region despite district administrations making all-out measures.

Use alternatives, HSPCB urges farmers

P Raghvendra Rao, Chairman, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), has urged the farmers and stakeholders to adopt alternative modes for disposing of paddy straw instead of burning the stubble in the fields which has been causing environmental pollution.

Though the number of fire spots have reportedly come down as compared to the previous year, agriculture experts and environmentalists say more needs to be done to prevent farmers from resorting to stubble burning, especially during the kharif season.

According to the data of the State Agriculture Department on Sunday, 132 cases of paddy residue burning has been detected in the state with the highest number of 32 in Jind district. Fatehabad district recorded 21 fire spots while Sirsa 14.

Fatehabad district has recorded the highest number of 677 fire spots this season in the state while Kaithal district has 655 fire incidents in the fields. However, a comparison of the farm fire locations to the previous year, the data revealed that till today, a total of 3,111 spots of paddy residue burning have been detected this year. The number was 5,400 on the corresponding date (November 13).

Taking a serious note of such incidents, the Fatehabad administration had also taken action against some persons and officials. According to the district spokesperson, the deputy commissioner has served show cause notices to five patwaris, four gram sachivs, five agriculture supervisors besides 13 nambardars in various villages who had failed to prevent stubble burning in respective areas assigned to them.

A district official informed that the administration served notices to 27 members of the village-level enforcement and monitoring team for crop residue management. Deputy Commissioner Jagdish Sharma has issued show cause notices to 13 nambardars of Laharia, Hijrawan Kalan, Nangal, Pilkhiya and Badalgarh and asked them to submit their reply in three days as they were “found lax in stubble management awareness work” in their villages.

The DC has issued notices to five patwaris, four gram sachivs (village secretaries) and five agricultural supervisors of the same area and asked them to reply for “not making the farmers aware”.

The DC informed that the administration had issued 236 challans and imposed a fine of Rs 5,97,500 on violators.

The Deputy Commissioner called upon the farmers to take advantage of the scheme run by the government for crop residue management.