With the paddy harvesting season underway in Punjab, incidents of stubble burning have once again started to surface. According to satellite monitoring by the Punjab government, the state saw 62 residue burning incidents in the past few days. A total of 14 FIRs were also registered against the erring farmers.
Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is cited as a major contributor to Delhi's worsening air pollution during October and November. With a short window between the paddy harvest and the sowing of the Rabi crop, especially wheat, many farmers resort to burning crop residue as a quick method to clear their fields.
Amritsar tops the list
On Monday, three incidents of stubble burning were reported in Amritsar district, one in Kapurthala, and two in Tarn Taran. Since September 15, a total of 62 incidents of stubble burning have been reported in Punjab. Of these, the highest number, 38, was reported from Amritsar district.
Two incidents were reported from Barnala, one each from Bathinda, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Sangrur, SAS Nagar, and Malerkotla, seven from Patiala, and seven from Tarn Taran.
14 FIRs registered
The data also showed that 14 FIRs, including 13 in Amritsar, have been registered against the farm fires under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which pertains to disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant. A fine of Rs 1.25 lakh has been imposed in 27 cases, and Rs 50,000 of this amount has been collected.
The state authorities have also marked 15 red entries in the land records of the erring farmers, which bar them from getting loans against their land or selling the same.
Recording of farm fire incidents started on September 15 and will continue till November 30.
Punjab saw 10,909 farm fires in 2024 as compared to 36,663 in 2023, registering a 70 per cent decrease in such incidents. The state recorded 49,922 fire events in 2022, 71,304 in 2021, 76,590 in 2020, 55,210 in 2019 and 50,590 in 2018, with many districts, including Sangrur, Mansa, Bathinda, and Amritsar, witnessing a large number of stubble burning incidents.
