E-Paper
8 farmers booked for stubble burning in Mohali
Cases come a day after the Supreme Court cracked the whip on the governments of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and said that their entire administrative and police hierarchy will be held responsible if even one instance of stubble burning comes to the fore
Acting on the Supreme Court’s directions to take strict action against stubble burning, the Mohali administration registered eight FIRs against farmers and sent seven complaints to the court, which will be taking cognisance under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
The cases have been registered under Section 188 (disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which involves imprisonment for up to two years with a fine of ₹1,000.
If the stubble burning is on land less than 2 acres, the offender will have to pay fine of ₹2,500, for 2 acres to 5 acres, the fine is ₹5,000 and for above 5 acres, the district administration will issue a challan of ₹15,000.
Among the eight FIRs, two have been registered in Dera Bassi police station, one in Lalru and five in various police stations of Mohali subdivision. Dera Bassi station house officer Gurwant Singh said the two FIR were registered against Pardeep Kumar of Baroli village and Kuldeep Singh of Makandpur, who were caught red-handed in the act during patrolling.
On November 4, the Apex court had asked the governments of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to immediately put a check on stubble burning and said that their entire administrative and police hierarchy, ranging from the chief secretary to sarpanch and local policemen, will be held responsible even if one instance of stubble burning takes place.
RED ENTRIES MADE
The administration has already started making red entries in the land records of farmers found indulging in stubble burning. Once there is a red entry in the record, the farmer will not be eligible to avail any government facility or loan from any bank or institution. So far, 182 cases of stubble burning have been reported but in 86 cases, nothing was found after verification. As many as 19 sites are yet to be inspected while in 77 cases, challans to the tune of ₹2.3 lakh have been issued to farmers. Red entries have been made in the records of the offenders.
Mohali deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan has constituted three teams for all three subdivisions. On the directions of Supreme court orders, sub-divisional magistrates have asked deputy superintendent of police to register FIR against the farmers. In two days, eight FIRs have been registered and complaints have been forwarded to police stations for verification.
DC Dayalan said nodal officers have been deputed in paddy-growing villages across the district to shun this practice more effectively and create awareness about the ill-effects of stubble burning.
He said that the staff of cooperation, revenue, rural development and panchayats, agriculture, horticulture and soil conservation departments and Powercom have been working in tandem to check this menace.
The nodal officers are also holding meetings with farmers, arranging crop residue management machines, distribution of pamphlets/leaflets in villages to make announcements in gurdwaras.
