Two farmers booked for setting crop residue on fire in Kapurthala

The paddy harvesting has just begun in the region. A few cases of paddy stubble burning have been reported in Kapurthala. The police on Wednesday registered two FIRs against farmers for burning crop residue in their fields. The FIRs were registered at the Sultanpur Lodhi and Kabirpur police stations against two farmers of Shatabgarh and Talwandi Chaudhrian villages on Wednesday. The two FIRs were registered by the Kapurthala police under Section 223 of the BNS. Both farmers were named in the FIR.

The action has been taken amidst a comprehensive awareness campaign launched by the district administration in Kapurthala with an aim to curb stubble burning. Besides, the administration said strict action had been initiated against farmers who set their fields on fire.

In a case registered at the Kabirpur police station, a police party on patrol duty spotted a farm fire while heading from Lakhwaria village to Kaduwal village. The police saw a Talwandi Chaudhrian village farmer setting paddy stubble on fire at 5.25 pm on Wednesday. The farmer said he was preparing his fields for sowing wheat crop by burning crop residue.

In the second case, the Sultanpur Lodhi police received a tip-off about a farmer at Shatabgarh village setting paddy stubble on fire. The incident was reported by a passerby. Notably, Sultanpur Lodhi is the first area to report farm fires in the region. Till Wednesday evening, 16 farm fire cases were reported in Kapurthala of which most were from Kabirpur and Sultanpur Lodhi. No farm fire was reported in Kapurthala today.

Comparatively in Jalandhar, seven farm fires were reported during the past one week. Paddy harvesting has been delayed in Jalandhar as its seeds are still unripe.

Environmental compensations have been imposed on nine farmers in Kapurthala. Farmers have been issued challans ranging from Rs 2,500 to Rs 15,000 for burning stubble. Red notices have also been issued to five farmers in Kapurthala.

Amit Kumar Panchal, Deputy Commissioner (DC), Kapurthala, said farmers were being made aware of the ill effects of stubble burning. He said on Wednesday, teams led by Sultanpur Lodhi SDM Aparna, which included convener Dr Jaspal Singh, DSP Joga Singh and PPCB officials visited Chak Kotla, Sanchan, Shalapur Dona, Deepewal, Dadwindi and Shatabgarh villages. A team also toured several villages in Phagwara on Thursday, he said. The DC said at least 32 balers, which made bales of straw for using it as fuel in boiler units, were functional in the district.