9 Punjab DCs slapped notices over farm fires

Vishav Bharti

Chandigarh, November 16

Days after receiving a stern warning from the Supreme Court, Punjab Chief Secretary Anurag Verma has put nine deputy commissioners on notice over failure to curb farm fires in their districts.

Delhi AQI ‘severe’

Delhi’s air quality worsened within the ‘severe’ category on Thursday as unfavourable meteorological conditions hindered the dispersion of pollutants. Delhi’s 24-hour average AQI, recorded at 4 pm daily, stood at 419 on Thursday. It was 401 on Wednesday, 397 on Tuesday, 358 on Monday and 218 on Sunday. IQAir, a Swiss company, said Delhi was the most polluted city in the world on Thursday, followed by Baghdad and Lahore.

The DCs, as per the show-cause notice, have been given three days to respond, else disciplinary proceedings would be initiated against them. Served on Wednesday, the notice read: “You are asked to show cause within three days as to why disciplinary proceedings should not be initiated against you… you failed to act despite clear instructions from the undersigned to ensure compliance with the Supreme Court directions.”

Sources said only those DCs in whose districts farm fires crossed 100 on Wednesday had been served notices. The nine districts, according to Punjab Pollution Control Board data, were Barnala, Bathinda, Faridkot, Fazilka, Ferozepur, Ludhiana, Moga, Muktsar and Sangrur.

Pulling up each DC for allegedly failing to implement the proposed action plan for reducing to half the stubble-burning incidents compared to last year, the notice read: “There are several villages where a substantial number of stubble-burning incidents have taken place since the beginning of the season. However, you have not initiated action against any of the field officers deputed by you to curb stubble burning in villages.”

On November 2, the Chief Secretary had advised 12 DCs to put in all efforts to ensure no more fire incidents occurred in their respective districts. “In case any more fire incidents take place in your district today onwards, I will be constrained to make adverse remarks in your annual performance appraisal report,” he had warned. The Deputy Commissioners who were warned were of Patiala, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Malerkotla, Hoshiarpur, Roopnagar, Amritsar, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Moga, Sangrur, Ludhiana and Fatehgarh Sahib districts.

On November 10, the Supreme Court had warned that it would summon the Chief Secretaries of Punjab, Haryana and other states concerned if desirable progress wasn’t made on curbing farm fires. It had also directed all stakeholders to follow the decisions taken in a meeting chaired by the Cabinet Secretary on stopping farm fires and checking air pollution in Delhi-NCR. “We want farm fires stopped, we want air quality to get better, and we want long-term measures for crop replacement. If you don’t, we will summon the Chief Secretaries and keep them here till they find a solution. I am sure they will work better in their own offices, so please find a solution,” the apex court had said.