15 cases registered for crop residue burning

Patiala, October 9

The district administration has registered 15 cases against farmers for burning paddy stubble.

Meanwhile, 1,21,360 metric tonnes of grain have reached the market to date. Of this, 1,16,317 tonnes has been procured.

Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney said, “Requisite machinery is already available for the management of stubble in the district. The farmers can make use of it. The district administration will initiate action against the farmers if they still continue to flout norms and burn the paddy stubble”, the DC said.

The Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) has reported fire incidents at 75 locations. Of these, the Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) have made visits to 50 sites. They observed no residue crop burning at 35 locations. Till now, 15 FIRs have been registered against farmers, for which the administration has imposed fines in the amount of Rs 35,000 against them.

Officials said they have made red entries in the revenue records of 12 farmers already. The district administration is also sending fire brigades to deal with the fire incidents. The district administration has started collecting information regarding the required machinery for the management of paddy stubble. The DC, Sakshi Sawhney, said the information was being collected from the WhatsApp Chat bot. “We have started doing the same at the grain markets upon the arrival of farmers. We are also enlightening the farmers about stubble management at the same time”, she said.

Meanwhile, the administration is enlightening farmers about the management of stubble. The SDM, Ismat Vijay Singh, say visited Fatehpur, Indrapura, Ablowal, Faridpur, and Paharpur villages as part of this exercise.