The district administration has challaned eight more farmers and imposed a fine to the tune of Rs 20,000 for burning crop residue.
Officials of the district administration and Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) on Thursday caught the farmers red-handed while burning stubble in Banur, Bakarpur village in Kharar, Manauli Surat, Sonauli and Khaspur in Dera Bassi, Sohara and Patran in Kharar, Khaspur in Banur. Stubble burning is completely banned in the state. This year, 10 cases of stubble burning have been reported in the district.
A senior official of the district administration said that eight farmers were found burning stubble despite the ban and all owned less than two acres of land. “We have issued a challan of Rs 2,500 each. Directions have been issued to the revenue department to make red entries in the land records of six offenders and an FIR has been registered against one farmer under Section 39 of the Air Act, 1981. Under this act, if charges are proved, they can be jailed for six months and fined up to Rs 10,000 or both,” he said.
Red entry means the farmer will not be eligible for any government facility or loan from any bank or institution. If stubble is burned on less than 2 acres, a challan of Rs 2,500 will be issued, a challan of Rs 5,000 will be issued for 2 to 5 acres and for above 5 acres, a challan of Rs 15,000 will be issued.
The official said that Punjab Remote Sensing Centre’s data showed 45 sites of stubble burning in the district. “But we spotted farm fires at only eight sites,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}The official said that Punjab Remote Sensing Centre’s data showed 45 sites of stubble burning in the district. “But we spotted farm fires at only eight sites,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Mohali deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan said, “We have formed Rapid Response Teams and appointed village-level nodal officers who would monitor the area under their jurisdiction and report stubble burning if any.” He said that they have been trained to use the ATR mobile app through which they will share on-the-spot action taken. Response time is fixed and it is mandatory for every officer to update action taken in the stipulated period.
The area under paddy cultivation in the district is around 25,800 hectares which is expected to result in 1.29 lakh quintals of crop residue.
Last year, Mohali was third in the state among the districts which recorded the least stubble burning incidents. In 2019, 82 people were penalised to the tune of Rs 2.55 lakh and seven FIRs were registered.