FIRs against farmers in six cases for burning paddy residue in fields

Monitoring teams of the district administration are actively working to check the practice of stubble burning following directions from Deputy Commissioner Ankurjeet Singh. Stating this, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Avneet Kaur informed that compared to previous years, a significant decline in stubble burning incidents has been recorded this season.

The ADC informed that during the 2023 season, 61 cases of stubble burning were reported in the district, which got reduced to 12 cases in 2024. In this season so far, only eight sites of burning crop residue have been detected. Action has been taken in six cases, where the farmers involved have been fined Rs 45,000 as environmental compensation. FIRs have been registered, and red entries have been made in the revenue records (Khasra Girdawari).

ADC (Development) Avneet Kaur added that teams under the supervision of SDMs are holding village-level meetings with farmers and conducting regular police patrolling in the fields. Cluster officers and village-level nodal officers are also spreading awareness among farmers about in-situ stubble management practices.

Chief Agriculture Officer Dr Rakesh Kumar Sharma shared that the Agriculture Department has provided 2,716 crop residue management machines to farmers in the district, available on subsidy for in-situ stubble management. Each farmer’s field has been mapped with nearby Custom Hiring Centres and cooperative societies equipped with these machines. Priority is being given to small and needy farmers for machine access through village nodal officers.

Demonstration plots using decomposer sprays have been set up to promote eco-friendly stubble decomposition. Training camps, awareness van campaigns and contests on stubble management in schools are also being organised.