Sangrur officials act swiftly as farm fires surge again

Pictures of Deputy Commissioner Rahul Chaba and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Sangrur Sartaj Singh Chahal dousing farm fires have put the district in the spotlight yet again after it started witnessing spurt in farm fires.

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) had on Friday suggested a triple action plan and instructed Punjab officials to simultaneously register an FIR, impose fine and make “red entries” in revenue records against farmers involved in stubble burning.

But farmers continue to set paddy residue ablaze. Sangrur which is notorious for witnessing highest number of farm fires every year has shown some improvement.

In the past five years, CM Mann’s home district has recorded 18,389 incidents of stubble burning, the highest among all districts in Punjab.

However, in a positive turnaround, farm fire cases declined by 87 per cent between 2021 and 2024. The district had witnessed 9,389 incidents in 2021, which came down to 1,215 in 2024.

While the numbers have significantly reduced, officials acknowledge that some farmers still resort to burning paddy residue late in the evening to evade satellite surveillance.

The decline in farm fires was partly due to the government’s clampdown on the sale of long-duration, water-guzzling paddy varieties like Peeli PUSA or PUSA-44.

Speaking about yesterday’s incident, DC Rahul Chaba said, “It was a sudden and spontaneous reaction. The SSP and I were on a routine visit to the village for interaction with farmers when we spotted a stubble fire. We stopped with no water available, we doused the flames using bushes.”

SSP Sartaj Singh Chahal, who also takes keen interest in farming, added, “We were visiting progressive farmers in the area. When we saw the fire at Gurdaspura village. We decided to act immediately. It also left a positive message among the staff as well.”

BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan) leader Joginder Singh Ugrahan said stubble burning would persist until the government compensated farmers adequately.