Van to raise awareness on farm fires

To create awareness among the farming community against stubble burning, the Deputy Commissioner, Dr Sona Thind, today flagged off an awareness van. The DC said the district would be free from stubble burning soon. She said nodal officers have been deputed to monitor their respective villages, adding that cooperative societies have been directed to ensure machinery for proper management of stubble; besides, this subsidy was being provided.

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She said it was everyone’s responsibility to curb the increasing levels of pollution, adding that it was the duty of the current generation to leave a safe and clean environment for future generations.

The DC said nodal officers have been assigned to different villages to monitor stubble burning activities in their areas. She said they would be held responsible if cases of stubble burning were reported from their areas. She said paddy has been sown in 87,400 hectares in the district this year, from which 5.5 lakh tonnes of straw were likely to be produced.

DC Thind said farmer training camps were being organised at the block level and village level to sensitise the farmers about proper management of straw. She said the farmers selected through the process of drawing were being provided subsidies on agricultural machinery. She directed the officials of the cooperative societies department to ensure that all the cooperative societies in the district had subsidised agricultural machines for stubble management so that the farmers could plough the stubble in the field.

The Chief Agriculture Officer, Dr Dharminderjit Singh Sidhu, said an awareness van would sensitise the farmers in the villages of Block Khera from October 1, Block Sirhind from October 2 to 9 and Block Amloh from October 10 to 13.