E-Paper
Ludhiana sees sharp spike in farm fire cases on Dussehra
Chief agriculture officer Narinder Benipal said they are in the process of verifying whether the farm fires were accidental. If the fields were deliberately set afire, we will take strict action against the erring farmers, which include slapping penalties and marking their fields with a red entry, he said.
The district saw a sharp rise in stubble burning cases on Tuesday, the day of Dussehra, with 42 cases being captured by the Punjab remote sensing centre from here.
The figure is significantly higher than what was recorded over the last one week, when the count largely remaining in single digits and going up to double digits (10) only on one occasion. (see box).
Chief agriculture officer Narinder Benipal, while attributing this sudden rise in cases to the Dussehra festivities, which involve the burning of crackers and large-scale effigies, said, “We are in the process of verifying whether the farm fires were accidental. If the fields were deliberately set afire, we will take strict action against the erring farmers, which include slapping penalties and marking their fields with a red entry.”
A red entry in the land records has significant consequences for farmers as it leads to suspension of various government benefits, such as subsidies. As per the state government’s decision, once a red entry is made in land records, a farmer may not be able to take a loan against the land, mortgage it, or sell it.
According to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order, the state government can impose fines of ₹2,500 per case for farm fires on two acres, ₹5,000 for cases on 2 to 5 acres, and ₹15,000 for farm fires on land exceeding five acres.
AQI slips
The surge in farm fires has also caused a sharp decline in the Air Quality Index (AQI), which has gone from a relatively moderate 93 to a concerning 116 in a matter of a week.
Since the start of the paddy harvest season from September 15, Ludhiana has reported 110 cases. Out of these, approximately 86% occurred in the last one week.
Punjab Agricultural University (PAU)’s director of extension education, Gurmeet Singh, said the delayed start of paddy harvest this year has left farmers with a limited window for preparing their fields for wheat sowing. This constrained timeframe for paddy straw management may lead to an increase in stubble burning cases.
So far, Jagraon has recorded 28 fire events, while Machhiwara reported 19. Sidhwan Bet saw 20 such incidents, and Raikot had 12. Samrala reported five, Sudhar recorded eight, and Maloud documented three fire events. In the vicinity, Khanna reported one, Pakhowal had seven, Doraha recorded one, and Ludhiana 1 and 2 reported two and four fire events, respectively.
