Ravi Dhaliwal
Gurdaspur, May 9
With every second tract of agriculture land ablaze in Gurdaspur district, the stubble fire problem has reached gigantic proportions even as officials, unwilling to take action against erring farmers because of political pressure, are turning a blind eye to the sordid state of affairs.
The irony is too glaring to be missed. The fires are on in a state which is governed by the same political dispensation whose national convener Arvind Kejriwal has been crying hoarse that smoke from Punjab is adding to the pollution woes of New Delhi.
SSP Harjit Singh admits that not even a single FIR has been registered. “We can act only if we receive a complaint from agriculture officials,” he said.
On his part, Chief Agriculture Officer, Randhir Singh Takhur, said as per the Ludhiana based Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), at least 800 ‘spots’ — an euphemism for fires — had been recorded this season. However, officials are averse to filing complaints with the police.
DC Mohammad Ishfaq said he was aware of the gravity of the situation and had written to the Punjab Pollution Control Board. Agriculture officials are virtually washing their hands off the fires. They claim that “two days of high velocity winds acted as a catalyst in spreading the flames.”
“One farmer might have set fire to the stubble. Winds then carrie d it to half a dozen other farms. What is the fault of those farmers?” quipped a senior officer.
Going by what officials say in private, the situation is indeed grim. They say in certain pockets, almost every village has set residue on fire. Plumes of smoke can be seen with monotonous regularity on all the four main highways leading to Gurdaspur.
Action under Section 188
In what apparently is a case of too late and too little, Chief Agriculture Officer Randhir Singh Takhur said section 188 of the IPC (defying government orders) would be clamped on guilty. Farmers need not worry as section 188 is bailable
In Gurdaspur, 800 farm fires this season, not even one FIR
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