A day after acting tough against the agriculture officers for their alleged failure to check stubble burning in their respective areas, Punjab Government has adopted a harsher stance — penalizing the farmers and making red entries in the land records for setting their fields on fire. The action came on the day the state witnessed highest single-day farm fire incidents in a day during this season.
No less than 2,131 incidents of stubble burning were reported from across Punjab on Monday (October 31), with the State reporting a total of 10,206 cases of farm fire in the past six days — between October 26 and 31. Before this, the state reported the highest single day tally of 2067 cases of farm fire on October 28.
Persistent efforts by the state government notwithstanding, there is no letup in the incidents of stubble burning in Punjab which is allegedly resulting in declining the air quality index of the national capital.
As per the data available, between September 15 and October 31, the state has reported 16,004 incidents of stubble burning.
In Ludhiana district alone, a fine of Rs 1.92 lakh had been imposed on the farmers who were found indulging in stubble burning and causing air pollution, while 57 red entries were made. The state authorities came across 658 such cases.
Notably, Punjab annually generates 20 million tonnes of paddy straw. The farmers set the paddy straw on fire to clear the agricultural fields for the next crop. The reckless action results in the choking of the National Capital Region (NCR) due to air pollution in October and November every year.
Chief Secretary Instructs Officers to Effectively Control Such Incidents
Punjab Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua on Monday instructed the officials concerned to effectively control the incidents of paddy stubble burning in probable areas where such incidents are likely to take place. The Chief Secretary, presiding over a high-level meeting on stubble management, took stock of the incidents of stubble burning with the Secretary in-charges of the districts, who recently visited their allotted districts and received suggestions from them as per the local situation.
The Chief Secretary directed the officials to pay more attention, during the next few days, to prevent the incidents of stubble burning and control fire incidents. “There should be more focus on hot-spots of stubble burning and the administration should be more vigilant in the villages, where cases of fire have been reported in the last few years,” he said adding that physical and satellite verification of stubble burning sites should be conducted more thoroughly. Expressing concern over the difference in number of stubble burning incidents through physical and satellite verification, he categorically asked the officials to focus on areas captured by optical satellite data analysis by the Punjab Remote Sensing Center (PRSC).
Appreciating the initiative of Gurdaspur District Administration for utilizing the fire tenders for dousing farm fires, the Chief Secretary instructed all the Deputy Commissioners of the State to rope the fire tenders into service in their respective districts. Whenever stubble fire incidents are noticed, fire tenders should be sent immediately to douse the farm fire and further action should be taken, he added.
BOX: AGTECH Protests Demanding Reinstatement of “Suspended” Agri Officials
Chandigarh: A day after four agriculture officers were suspended for alleged dereliction of duty and failing to check the farm fires in their respective areas, the Agriculture Technocrats Action Committee (AGTECH) on Monday staged a statewide protest demanding reinstatement of the officials.
AGTECH members, representing technical staff from agriculture, horticulture, and soil wings of the Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Department, staged two-hour protests outside the offices of the Chief Agriculture Officers across the State.
Notably, the State Government, a day before, placed under suspension the services of four “erring” officials — 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 — 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 had placed four agricultural officials under suspension with an immediate effect for “dereliction of duty”. The action came as the State witnessed the high number of farm fire incidents on Sunday with the Chief Minister’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.
“The Government’s decision to suspend officials without an inquiry or issuance of show-cause notices is arbitrary and defies logic,” said AGTECH state president Kirpal Singh, adding that the field staff or agriculture officials were made “scapegoats” to cover the rising air pollution levels in Delhi.
AGTECH maintained that they have communicated their demand seeking revocation of suspension of the suspended officials to the higher-ups through email. “In case, they did not respond or revoke the suspension, we will intensify the agitation,” said the AGTECH spokesperson, adding that protests will be held on Tuesday also in Sangrur, Patiala, and Tarn Taran — where the staff officials were suspended.