Mohali admn detects eight farm fires in 19 days

A fine of ₹2,500 each has been imposed on two violators in Mohali and a red entry has been made in the land record of another

Amid consistent spike in farm fires in Punjab, only eight stubble burning instances have been found in Mohali district since the beginning of October, according to the district administration.

In 2020, 35 farmers were fined to the tune of ₹90,000 for the offence and 54 FIRs were lodged in Mohali. (HT Photo)

A fine of ₹2,500 each has been imposed on two of the violators and a red entry has been made in the land record of another.

A red entry makes the violator ineligible for any government facility or loan from any institution.

If the farm fire is on less than 2 acres, a challan of ₹2,500 is issued. In case of 2 to 5 acres, the fine is ₹5,000 and ₹15,000 if the area is above 5 acres.

In 2020, 35 farmers were fined to the tune of ₹90,000 for the offence and 54 FIRs were lodged.

While one case was registered under Section 39 of the AIR (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, another 53 were under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code.

In 2019, ₹2.55 lakh in fine were collected from 82 farmers and seven were booked.

She said among the eight instances, two farmers in Dera Bassi and Kharar were fined ₹2,500 each, and a red entry had been made in the land record of one farmer.

Around 25,800 hectares of land is under paddy cultivation in Mohali and is expected to result in 1.29 lakh quintals of crop residue.

The rapid response teams have been trained to use the ATR mobile app to share action taken on the spot. Response time is fixed and every official is also supposed to update action taken within the stipulated period.