Farm fires see threefold rise in Jalandhar district

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Jalandhar, October 27

There seems to be no let-up in stubble burning cases in the district. There is a threefold increase in the incidents in just two days. While there were only 29 cases till October 25, the number today rose to 107.

As many as 30 cases were reported today and the maximum are being from Shahkot, Nakodar and Phillaur blocks.

Farmers can’t afford machines, diesel

‘Farmers are definitely aware of the ill-effects of burning stubble, but marginal farmers cannot afford the machines and diesel. They (marginal farmers) demand that the government should at least bear the expenses of diesel so that they could utilise stubble managing machines.’

— Preeti, Sarpanch of Gohir village in Nakodar

One stubble burning case was reported from Gohir village in Nakodar today. Preeti, sarpanch of the village, said: “Farmers find it easy to burn stubble as there is no cost involved in it. They are definitely aware of the ill-effects of burning stubble, but marginal farmers cannot afford the machines and diesel. They (marginal farmers) demand that the government should at least bear the expenses of diesel so that they could utilise stubble managing machines”.

Agriculture Department officials, along with the district administration, have been adopting various ways to ‘curb’ such incidents, but to no avail.

Previous incidents

As many as 1,549 stubble-burning incidents were reported in 2019 in Jalandhar. The tally increased in 2020 when the district witnessed 1,763 incidents. More than 1,800 cases were registered in 2021. Last year, the tally was above 2,000.

“The number of farm fire cases is definitely expected to increase further in the first week of November,” an official said.

As many as 1,549 stubble-burning incidents were reported in 2019 in Jalandhar. The tally increased in 2020 when the district witnessed 1,763 incidents. More than 1,800 cases were registered in 2021. Last year, the tally was above 2,000. No stubble burning case has so far been reported from Nawanshahr. “A few suspected cases came to the fore. We checked and found that these were not related to stubble burning,” said Gurdev Singh, Chief Agriculture Officer of the district. The officer said this time, 99 per cent of the district would remain free from stubble burning.