Patiala News:District administration will honor farmers who do not burn stubble: Deputy Commissioner
-Meetings with number keeper and field visits by all SDMs to prevent incidents of stubble burning
-Teams are active to immediately control fire incidents; Surveillance through drones in hotspot villages
Deputy Commissioner Dr. Himanshu Agarwal has appealed to the farmers of the district not to burn paddy stubble and to use various machines available for its proper management. He said that the farmers who manage the stubble properly by removing it from the fields without setting fire or mixing it in the fields will be honored by the district administration.
The Deputy Commissioner said that in the past years, many farmers of Patiala district have been honored for managing stubble using ex-situ and in-situ methods without burning. He said that stubble burning not only pollutes the environment, but also has a negative impact on the fertility of the land. He said that drone surveillance is also being carried out in hotspot villages to prevent possible incidents of stubble burning.
A spokesperson for the district administration said that show cause notices have been issued by the competent authority to 22 cluster officers and nodal officers for negligence in preventing incidents of stubble burning. These include cases of not submitting reports within the stipulated time, making incorrect reporting and re-inflammation at places where incidents had already occurred. The concerned officers have been instructed to appear in person before the competent authority and give their reply.
He said that Patiala Police has registered 9 police cases in cases of stubble burning, while the Revenue Department has registered 10 red entries in the revenue records. Apart from this, an environmental penalty of Rs 55,000 has been imposed on those who burnt stubble, out of which Rs 25,000 has been recovered.
On the instructions of the Deputy Commissioner, all the SDMs have held meetings with the numberdars and asked them to make the farmers aware of the incidents of stubble burning in their respective villages and to be vigilant to prevent possible incidents of fire. Along with this, the SDMs are visiting the fields and directly contacting the farmers and motivating them to mix the crop residues in the fields themselves.
SDM Samana Richa Goyal along with DSP Fateh Singh Brar visited villages including Bamhana, Gajewas, Fatehgarh Chhanna and Talwandi Malik. She appreciated the farmers who managed the stubble without burning. SDM Patiala Gurdev Singh also visited various villages and appealed to the numberdars to play an active role in preventing the incidents of stubble burning in their villages. Meanwhile, his team took immediate action to extinguish the fire that broke out in the fields at village Bhanra.
Similarly, SDM Rajpura Ravinder Singh held a meeting with the numberdars at the tehsil level and instructed them to be fully vigilant to prevent incidents of stubble burning. SDM Dudhansadhan Harjot Kaur Mavi also visited various villages after holding a meeting with the numberdars and motivated the farmers not to burn stubble.
SDM Nabha APS Somal said during the meeting with the numberdars that it is the common responsibility of all to stop farmers from burning stubble and every section should contribute to the preservation of the environment. Similarly, SDM Patran Kala Ram Kansal appealed to the numberdars to cooperate with the administration to stop the incidents of stubble burning in the villages. He visited village Khang and other nearby villages and motivated the farmers not to burn stubble.