Aman Sood
Tribune News Service
Patiala, November 1
Even as farm fires continue to rise, the burnt area under paddy this year is around 4.35 lakh hectare (till October 27) against 5.70 lakh hectare last year — a decline of 1.35 lakh hectare (25.22%).
Despite grant, state fails to curb menace
- Despite getting 46% of the total central funds to check farm fires, Punjab witnessed an increase of 44.5% in cases in 2020
- The Centre allocated Rs1,726.67 crore to various states, of which Punjab got Rs793.18 crore
- In an affidavit, the Ministry of Environment and Forests said Punjab saw 76,590 incidents of fire in 2020 against 52,991 in 2019
However, farm fires have risen considerably in the past three days with over 2,500 cases reported on Sunday alone, taking the total number of cases to 14,920.
In Punjab, total 30.66 lakh hectare is under rice cultivation this year — 26.05 lakh hectare under paddy (non-basmati) and 4.61 lakh hectare under basmati.
Punjab Pollution Control Board member secretary Karunesh Garg said it was important to monitor burnt area because in majority cases the number of fires could be more but the area might be less or vice-versa. “More area burnt will mean more smoke, so it’s important to keep tabs on area set on fire rather than just recording the number of fire incidents,” he said.
Stubble burning started in September-end and till October 19 farmers had burnt 2.11 lakh hectares (5.21 lakh acres), including 1.02 lakh hectares (2.52 lakh acres) from October 12-19. To date, environment compensation of Rs 25.17 lakh has been imposed on such farmers.
“There is a marked improvement due to various factors, including more machinery in the fields and awareness drives,” Garg said, adding: “However, our main focus is to bring down the area under farm fires and keep a check on such activities. It is crucial time.”
Punjab on Sunday reported 2,895 farm fires, highest this season, which is almost half of that until the corresponding date last year. Over 1,000 cases are being reported daily for the past few days and officials expect the numbers to go up around Diwali, affecting the air quality.
Meanwhile, agriculture department officials confirm that the number of farm fires will spike by over 1,500-2,000 per day in the next few days as the window between sowing wheat and getting rid of stubble narrows. “Rain spell last week delayed farm fires and now a spike is expected,” they said.
“Erring farmers, backed by politically inclined farmer unions, refuse to deposit fines and even take officials hostage when they are approached in that connection. Investigation in many cases is still pending as the farmer unions have threatened agitation if their members are harassed,” said an official. “With elections approaching, not many officials are willing to act sternly against erring farmers,” he added.
Area under farm fires down 25%, but cases up in Punjab
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