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Farm fire incidents in Punjab dropped below 1,000-mark for the first time since Diwali on Saturday. The dip comes amid renewed efforts to curb the incidents following Supreme Court directions wherein 400 FIRs were registered on Friday against violaters and paddy harvesting season reaching almost its fag end.
On Saturday, the state recorded 637 cases, a drop of 45% from the 1,150 stubble-burning cases reported on Friday. Moreover, this is for the first time the cases came below the 1,000- mark post-Diwali. On November 12, the state had logged 987 cases. The total farm fire count of the state reached 37,719 in this harvest season to date.
Punjab Pollution Control Board chairman Adarshpal Vig said it is a matter of great relief that the cases have come down, but the figure is still higher than their expectations.
“We have adopted stringent measures in the past two days as even the senior officials, including SSPs and DCs are on the ground taking strict action against the farmers indulging in stubble burning,” he said.
He added that this kharif season saw many ups and downs as all the state agencies went all out to control incidents, but things changed as the harvesting progressed.
“Looking at the positive start we got, we were expecting sporadic farm fire incidents at this stage. However, the paddy harvesting is almost done in the state, therefore we expect a steep drop in farm fire incidents in the state in the coming days,” the PPCB chairman said.
Punjab agriculture director Jaswant Singh said less than 4% of paddy harvesting is pending in the state and it will be completed by next week.
“Moreover, 70% of wheat is sowing is complete. We are trying to persuade farmers to manage paddy in a scientific manner where the crop is yet to be harvested,” he said.
The state recorded 680 cases of stubble burning on November 18, 2021, and 701 cases on the same date in 2022. The total cases reported in the state during the corresponding period in 2021 and 2022 were 69,980 and 46,314 cases, respectively.
According to the Ludhiana-based Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), two of Punjab districts reported over 100 cases, including Moga, which recorded 120 cases, followed by 111 in Fazilka. Meanwhile, SAS Nagar, Pathankot, Gurdaspur and Rupnagar district didn’t report a single farm fire incident on Friday.
Navrajdeep Singh is a senior staff correspondent. He covers agriculture, crime, local bodies, health and education in the Patiala district of Punjab.
