Under the leadership of the Deputy Commissioner, all SDMs directly contacted farmers in the villages, reached the spot and extinguished the fire at many places.
-Appeal to farmers to manage stubble and crop residues through modern machinery instead of burning them
-More than 80 percent of paddy harvest has been completed in the district, suitable time for wheat sowing is from October 25 to November 25
The entire administrative machinery of Patiala district is fully engaged in the field to prevent incidents of paddy stubble burning and to preserve the environment. Under the leadership of Deputy Commissioner Dr. Himanshu Agarwal, all the Sub Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) are continuously visiting the villages and directly contacting the farmers and making them aware about the proper methods of stubble management. Along with this, special arrangements have been made to reach there immediately and extinguish the fire wherever there is information about fire in the fields.
To effectively implement this campaign, police teams, officers and employees of the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, Cooperative Societies, besides departmental nodal and cluster officers have been deployed at the village level. Fire brigade teams have also been kept active so that any incident of fire can be brought under control immediately.
The entire campaign is being continuously monitored by ADC Rural Development Damanjit Singh Mann and ADC Anuprita Johal under the leadership of Deputy Commissioner Dr. Himanshu Agarwal.
A spokesperson for the district administration said that today, a team led by SDM Patiala Gurdev Singh controlled the stubble fire at village Sunyarheri with the help of fire brigade. They also visited other nearby villages. Similarly, a team led by SDM Rajpura Ravinder Singh extinguished the fire in the fields at village Bhogal. The team under the supervision of SDM Doodhan Sadhan Harjot Kaur also immediately extinguished the fire in a field on Adalatwala-Auj road.
Meanwhile, SDM Samana Richa Goyal visited various villages including Kutbanpur, Fateh Majri and interacted with the farmers and reviewed the arrangements for stubble management. While inspecting the ex-situ (outside the fields) stubble management at village Acharal Kalan, she appealed to the farmers to use the agricultural machinery being provided by the government on subsidy instead of burning stubble.
SDM Nabha APS Somal also visited various villages of the sub-division and discussed with the farmers and motivated them to manage the stubble without burning it. Similarly, SDM Patran Kala Ram Kansal is also meeting the farmers and local residents in the villages and creating awareness about the ill effects of stubble burning.
According to the Agriculture Department, more than 80 percent of paddy harvesting has been completed in the district. Although the pace of harvesting is somewhat slow in Samana and Patran blocks, the harvest is likely to be completed by November 10 to 15. According to agricultural experts, the time from October 25 to November 25 is suitable for wheat sowing. For this purpose, the Agriculture Department is also providing wheat seeds to the farmers on subsidy.
The district administration and the agriculture department have appealed to the farmers to refrain from burning crop residues and paddy stubble. Burning of stubble not only affects the air quality but also damages the fertility of the soil and the environment. Therefore, they should contribute to the conservation of the environment by adopting modern stubble management techniques.