Punjab sees 69 farm fires, season’s highest so far

The state reported 69 farm fires on Wednesday, the highest single-day count of the season, taking the total tally to 484 so far.

Tarn Taran accounted for 18 fresh cases, followed by 14 in Ferozepur. Despite the spike, the state has seen a 70 per cent decline in farm fires compared with the same period last year — 484 incidents till October 22 this year against 1,581 last year.

The police and the district administrations claimed that coordinated efforts have led to a “near four-fold reduction” in stubble burning compared to the past two years.

The police have registered 172 FIRs, imposed 189 penalties and the Revenue Department has made 165 red entries in revenue records of erring farmers. Under directions from the Supreme Court and the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to bring farm fires to zero, DGP Gaurav Yadav and Special DGP (Law and Order) Arpit Shukla have been personally monitoring the drives.

“The police and civil teams are working tirelessly at the ground level,” said Special DGP Shukla, adding that joint teams of the DCs, SSPs, SDMs and DSPs have conducted over 1,000 visits in hotspot villages and held 2,381 awareness meetings with farmers.

A ‘Parali Protection Force’ has also been formed at the police station level to keep vigil and sensitise farmers about the ill-effects of burning crop residue.