Open House What should be done to stop the mismatch in farm fire number?

Flying squads should tour state

The Supreme Court had directed the state government to adopt all possible measures to stop stubble burning, which is dubbed as the main reason for high level of pollution in the national capital. In Punjab, burning still remains rampant, even as the paddy harvesting season is nearing its end. On Tuesday, the state recorded 1,700 burning cases while Haryana, UP and Delhi reported zero each. To know the exact numbers, the state government should review the situation on a daily basis as 10 per cent of paddy harvesting is yet to be done. The teams of the agriculture department assisted by the police and the administration should be present on the ground and respond quickly to douse the fire and take action as per the law. They should approach those farmers who are yet to harvest their crop and sensitise regarding adopting scientific ways of managing stubble, to minimise the burning cases in the coming weeks. The flying squads formed by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) with members of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), for monitoring and enforcement actions towards control of stubble burning cases in Punjab, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan should tour the state to impress upon the farmers to desist from stubble burning as well as to assess the exact situation.

Raghbir Sembhi

State govt should compensate farmers

As we know the air pollution is increasing day by day. Every year one may notice so many cases of stubble burning in Punjab state alone. Farmers are helpless to burn the remains of paddy because the cost of cultivation after removing remains of paddy is very high. So the state government instead of fixing fines and penalties must compensate equivalent to the amount or cost of getting their fields ready for the next crop. Farmers are already bearing loss and the majority are in a debt trap. Agricultural universities and the government must devise a policy to organise orientation programmes for farmers to know which crop will give more return. Farmers must come out from the vicious circle of paddy and wheat rotation.

Farzana khan

Need to use better monitoring systems

Haryana and Delhi are severely affected by air and pollution which is caused by heavy traffic, burning of stubble, industrial and other consumer product emissions. Stubble burning is considered a major contributor among these. State government must compensate each farmer equivalent to the cost of getting their fields ready to sow the next crop. Then there will be no stubble burning. We should use smog detection and monitoring systems similar to the system which is being used in our neighbour country, China. Government must motivate and educate farmers to rotate the pattern of crops. Farmers must adopt crop rotation system instead of paddy wheat cycle.

Dr Mohd Saleem Farooqui

Admn should take corrective measures

To stop the jugglery with numbers, just like the farm fires forthwith, the administration should take necessary steps immediately. Farm fires cause air pollution which is not only harmful for human life, but it also adversely affects animals, birds and nature on the whole. Thus, the administration should take stringent action in order to curb such activities. We as a society should wake up and take such corrective measures before it is too late for redemption.

Adish Sood

NO UNDERREPORTING: DC

There is no under-reporting of farm fires. All the data is captured through satellites by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), which is an autonomous organisation under the Department of Agriculture, Punjab. The district administration has been spearheading a sustained campaign to check the incidents of stubble burning. Besides awareness and education, punitive action against the violators is also being taken. — SURABHI MALIK, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER

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QUESTION

In a first, the state government has mapped the stray animal hotspots, where more than 2 road accidents involving animals, either directly or indirectly, have been reported. Surprisingly, a whopping 95 of the total 109 animal-vehicle collision (AVC) hotspots, as they have been defined, fall in the Malwa region whereas 11 were under Doaba and Majha region has the least of 3 AVC hotspots. These hotspots had claimed 1,121 lives in road mishaps involving collisions with stray animals in the state during the past three years between 2020 and 2022. What should be done to check the AVCs?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to [email protected] by Thursday (November 23)

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#Environment #Farm Fires #Pollution #Stubble Burning #Supreme Court