8,000 nodal officers to keep eye on stubble fires in state

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 17

Aiming to check stubble-burning effectively, the Punjab government has decided to depute nodal officers in nearly 8,000 paddy-growing villages, identified by the Agriculture Department where paddy stubble is burnt traditionally.

Secretary Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Kahan Singh Pannu today said the deputy commissioners (DCs) had already been asked to depute officials each in such villages to create awareness about the ill-effects of paddy stubble burning, hazardous for human health and environment. These nodal officers have been asked to keep a close vigil over the post-harvesting operations.

The secretary said the staff of Cooperation, Revenue, Rural Development and Panchayats, Agriculture, Horticulture and Soil Conservation and Powercom will work in tandem to check this menace efficaciously. Nodal officers will also undertake various activities, ranging from holding meetings with farmers, arranging crop residue management (CRM) machines, distributing pamphlets/leaflets etc. in villages, besides making announcements in gurdwaras etc. He said the nodal officers had also been directed to interact with village schools for organising rallies and awareness lectures to sensitise students so that they could in turn prevail upon their parents to make them aware of the harmful effects of stubble-burning.

If any farmer burns residue in the open fields, the nodal officers will mark red entry in the revenue records with the help of the patwari concerned following which the errant will not get government farm subsidies. Pannu said the secretaries of 3,485 cooperative societies across the state would be put on this job. Likewise, the services of the 1,850 panchayat secretaries of Rural Development & Panchayats, 2,000 junior engineers, 6,000 linemen, 200 sub-division officers of the PSPCL, 1,500 Agriculture, Horticulture and Soil Conservation officials will also be engaged for this purpose. In addition, coordinating officers will also be deputed in a circle of 20 villages.

BKU against drive

Sangrur: Ran Singh Chatha, district general secretary, BKU (Sidhupur), has said the state government has failed to provide alternative to manage stubble so the BKU will support stubble-burning. Chief Agriculture Officer Jaswinderpal Singh Grewal said the department would take action against the errants. Subsidy is given on farm tools' purchase, he said. TNS