Seeing no letup in farm fires in Punjab resulting in declining air quality index (AQI) of the national capital, Punjab Government has come up with an eight-point agenda to combat the menace of stubble burning in the State.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, spearheading the campaign against paddy straw burning, on Sunday has decided to personally undertake review of the efforts in all the districts to check paddy straw burning besides directing the officers to implement the plan in a result-oriented manner with a missionary zeal.
“As a part of this plan, the State Government has recently distributed 30,000 machines for in-situ management of the paddy straw thereby taking the total number of such machines to 1.2 lakhs. Also, the state Agriculture Department has disseminated village-wise CRM machine type and owner contact numbers to all the farmers in the State,” said the Chief Minister.
Stating that the campaign has been initiated across the State against the paddy straw burning, the Chief Minister said that the meetings are being held by the legislators and senior officers in sensitive areas, announcements are being made from gurudwaras, meetings were being held with the sarpanches (village heads), farmer unions, and others to sensitize the people against the scourge of paddy straw burning.
Mann said that in the same manner, extensive involvement of the Health and Education Departments is being ensured in the campaign to sensitize people about hazardous efforts of the paddy straw burning.
In the same manner, “I have also asked the departments to ensure encouragement and recognition of panchayats and farmers for not indulging in paddy straw burning”, said the Chief Minister.
Likewise, the Chief Minister said that he has also asked the officers concerned to provide real-time data dissemination on daily burning incidents for quick action.
At the same time, the Chief Minister also directed the officers to take severest of severe action against the employees who pollute the environment of the State by paddy straw burning.
Soliciting the support of people for this noble cause, the Chief Minister urged them to play a pivotal role in checking environmental pollution in the State. “Now, the time has come when every citizen should support the State Government in making Punjab clean, green, and pollution-free,” said Mann adding that the State Government will leave no stone unturned for this noble cause.
ZERO TOLERANCE: Four Agri Officials Suspended for Dereliction of Duty
Acting tough and adopting zero tolerance policy against the menace of stubble burning, Punjab Agriculture Department on Sunday places under suspension the services of four “erring” officials after detecting stubble burning incidents in the different districts of the State.
Following directions from the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the state’s Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal have placed four agricultural officials under suspension with an immediate effect for “dereliction of duty”.
The suspended officials include Sangrur’s Chief Agriculture Officer Harbans Singh, Samana (Patiala) Agriculture Officer Satish Kumar, Chohla Sahib (Tarn Taran) Agriculture Officer Harpal Singh, and Patti (Taran Taran) Agriculture Officer Bhupinder Singh.
The action came as the State witnessed the high number of farm fire incidents on Sunday with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s home district, Sangrur, topping the list with 323 cases, followed by Patiala with 249. As per the data from the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, there were 110 instances of stubble burning in Tarn Taran.
On Saturday, Sangrur topped the chart of maximum farm fires in the state with 286 incidents followed by Patiala with 268 farm fires.
Spokesperson said that during the suspension period, these officials will report to the office at Director Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department at SAS Nagar (Mohali). He further informed that during the suspension, these officials will be given the allowance as per rules or instructions.
“Punjab Government has adopted a zero tolerance policy against stubble burning cases this time and has been vehemently organizing campaigns to sensitize the farmers to not burn the stubble across the State,” said the spokesperson.
Spokesperson said that the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has categorically asked the Agriculture Officials to work gingerly at the grassroot level and ensure that crop residue is not set ablaze in their areas. But the government found these officers of not rendering services with adherence to the directions, added the spokesperson.
Punjab’s Farm Fires Polluting Delhi Air?
As the stubble burning is turning worse across Punjab, Delhi continues to gasp for clean air. Increasing incidents of stubble burning in Punjab this year have become a matter of serious concern with the Union Environment Ministry pointing out that the Air Quality Index (AQI) is likely to sharply deteriorate as only about 45-50 per cent of sown area in the State had been harvested till October 24.
Sources in the Environment Ministry had said that the contribution of stubble burning to the adverse air quality in Delhi and the National Capital Region has been increasing sharply and is about 18-20 per cent currently with the trend only likely to increase further.
As per the Standard Protocol developed by ISRO for Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), for the period September 15, 2022, to October 26, 2022, total paddy residue burning events reported in Punjab are 7,036 compared to 6,463 for the same period during the previous year.
CAQM further stated that about 70 per cent of farm fires during the current paddy harvesting season were reported only from Punjab’s six districts — Amritsar, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Patiala, and Tarn Taran. These districts account for 4,899 cases against a total of 7,036 incidents in Punjab.
These traditional six hotspot districts also accounted for about 65 per cent of the total burning incidents during the previous year for the same period. Out of a total of 7,036 reported cases, 4,315 stubble-burning incidences were reported during the last six days alone — that is about 61 per cent.
Till October 29 in 2020, Punjab had seen 23,187 farm fires, while the figure was 8,856 in 2021.
As per the Standard ISRO Protocol, for the period of September 15 - October 28 this year, a total of 10,214 paddy residue burning events have been reported in Punjab compared to 7,648 for the same period during the previous year, which is a significant increase of about 33.5 per cent. Out of total 10,214 reported cases, 7,100 stubble-burning incidents have been reported in the last seven days alone which is about 69 per cent, added the official.
