27 FIRs lodged as farm fire count reaches 75 in Punjab

The state has witnessed 75 stubble burning incidents, most in Amritsar, according to the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre.

As a result, the authorities have registered 27 FIRs under Section 223 (disobedience to orders promulgated by public servants) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and made 17 red entries against revenue record of erring farmers.

Experts said paddy harvesting commenced early in Majha comprising Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts.

“We have asked the field staff to stay put in villages and talk to farmers about air pollution. After mid-October, farmers race against time to prepare fields and sow the wheat crop. That’s when things get difficult,” said a Deputy Commissioner.

Following a spike in farm fires, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has also called a meeting of the stakeholder states later this week. The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), along with the Agriculture Department, monitors air quality from September 15 till November every year.

As per data collected from the PPCB, the state recorded 10,909 cases of farm fires in 2024 as compared to 36,663 in 2023. The state witnessed a total 83,002 farm fires in 2020, 71,304 in 2021 and 49,922 in 2022, respectively.

Recently, the Supreme Court had pulled up the state government, asking why some errant farmers shouldn’t be arrested for the practice, considered as a key contributor to the winter pollution in northern India, especially Delhi and around it.

Farm unions have been opposing any action against farmers, including the registration of cases, and have been demanding cash incentive to take care of paddy residue.

Farmers have also rejected the proposal to make use of bio-decomposer spray, which can clear stubble in 30 days. As the window between paddy harvesting and sowing of wheat crop is shorter, it’s not feasible to use this method.

“When one can clear fields with a single matchstick, there is no need to put an additional burden on machines and put extra efforts on managing stubble,” said farmers.

They said due to a short window between paddy harvesting and sowing of wheat, we had no option but to resort to farm fires.