To fight against stubble burning, Barnala administration creates WhatsApp groups for farmers

The Barnala district administration has geared up to act against paddy stubble burning.

To ensure that no incidents of paddy stubble burning is reported in the district, the administration has started micro-planning by creating village-level WhatsApp groups of farmers. Provision of adequate machinery for stubble management, details of every farmer, and other preventive steps are also being taken.

Barnala DC Punamdeep Kaur said as many as 25 villages of the district, which had reported more than 30 incidents of fire last year, had been identified as the hotspots. As part of the micro-planning, senior civil officers had been allocated in these villages along with their police counterparts for joint monitoring of these villages to prevent fire incidents.

She directed officers to ensure the creation of WhatsApp groups of all farmers at village-level. This would ensure that they were made aware and also help in detecting fire incidents at the earliest. Officers should have details of farmers along with their phone numbers, the land they own, and the dates when they would harvest their crops, she added.

She said special sanction was being taken from the government for the 25 villages to extend the date of providing farm machinery to individual farmers who had earlier not been able to get it. Each village’s cooperative society was being given 10 super seeders and surface seeders so that wheat could easily be sown in the paddy stubble. The societies that did not have money were being provided machinery through the NGOs.

Over 30 fire incidents last year

• As many as 25 villages of the district, which had reported more than 30 incidents of fire last year, had been identified as hotspots
• Special sanction was being taken from the government to extend the date of providing farm machinery to individual farmers who had earlier not been able to get it. Each village’s cooperative society was being given 10 super seeders and surface seeders so that wheat could easily be sown in the paddy stubble