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Stubble burning cases in Punjab go up again
Ludhiana After remaining on the lower side for a few days, the farm fire incidents have again started picking up pace across the state. As many as 1,289 stubble
Ludhiana After remaining on the lower side for a few days, the farm fire incidents have again started picking up pace across the state. As many as 1,289 stubble residue burning cases were reported from different parts of the state on Tuesday, taking the total fire incidents this paddy season to 50,967.
As many as 521 incidents to stubble burning were reported on November 18 and the number was 352 on Monday, only 25 on Sunday. On November 15, as many as 91 stubble burning incidents were reported.
On Monday, the state government announced re-verification of 29,343 small and marginal farmers who were compensated for not burning crop residue.
Farmers owning 5 acres or less are to be paid a compensation of Rs 2,500 per acre for not burning paddy residue. The government had disbursed over ₹19 crore among the farmers and the decision was taken after irregularities were detected.
Hindustan Times reported on Monday that the web-portal meant for paying compensation was hacked at two locations in Punjab.
Last week, 1,985 entries from Nathu Majra village in Sangrur were found to be fake, when the village sarpanch clarified that there are not as many accounts of the farmers. Also, some dubious entries were found from Fazilka area.
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) general secretary Harinder Singh Lakhowal said there were several loopholes in the implementation of the scheme. He squarely blamed the state government policies for the rise in stubble burning incidents.
“Firstly they did not compensate the farmers during the time of harvesting. And when the apex court ordered the government to compensate farmers, the authorities doled out the entire ₹19 crore among their kith and kin. This has led to unrest and anxiety among farmers, leading to the rise in stubble burning incidents,” said Lakhowal
He also blamed other factors for the rise in stubble burning cases. He said the government compensated only the farmers owning five acres of less land and did not offer any perks to farmers having large landholdings and to the contractual farmers.
“This triggered a lot of resentment among farmers, leading to the rise in stubble burning cases,” said Lakhowal.
Fire tracker:
Fires reported today: 1,289
Total: 50,967
