Over 4k nodal officers to help Punjab check stubble burning
In 2022, the state recorded 30% fewer farm fire incidents than last year. The paddy harvesting season will commence from October 1 this year.
In a bid to check stubble-burning incidents, the Punjab government plans to depute as many as 4,233 nodal officers and 998 cluster coordinators in 11,624 villages across the state to tackle fire incidents in real-time.
In 2022, the state recorded 30% fewer farm fire incidents than last year. The paddy harvesting season will commence from October 1 this year.
These officers will share daily action-taken reports through a mobile application called Action Taken Report (ATR) developed by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) and the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) after physical verification of stubble burning incidents.
The PRSC would send the officers the latitude and longitude of the location so that the fire could be doused off.
This year, nearly 31.93 hectares of area is under paddy cultivation in Punjab.
During the harvest in October-November, Punjab farmers usually have a shorter window to clear their fields for the winter crop. Invariably, many choose to burn the paddy stubble left behind after harvest, sending up plumes of smoke that drifts over to large population centres, sink and choke settlements in toxic smog. The crisis often pushes air in North Indian states and that of the national capital Delhi into the severe category. Apart from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh farmers also contribute to the smog.
PPCB chairman Adarsh Pal Vig said several departments, including PPCB and the agriculture department, are working on action plans.
“The agriculture department is working on in-situ crop residue management (CRM), while the pollution board is looking after ex-situ management,” Vig added.
Focus on ex-situ management
The state agriculture department is expecting production of nearly 186 lakh tonnes of paddy straw. In 2022, 50% of stubble was managed through in-situ management, while only 5% (9.5 lakh tonne stubble) was managed through ex-situ measures.
Joint director (agriculture) Jagdish Singh said they have set the target of managing straw in nearly 21-22 lakh hectares of paddy area through in-situ management (mixing the residue in the soil).
“Last year, 23,000 machines were given for in-situ management, while around 22,000 machines will be provided this year. Punjab Agricultural University’s new machine named surface seeder will also act as a boon due to its availability at a lesser price and low operational cost,” he said.
As per official figures, Punjab has distributed 1.17 lakh such machines so far.
PPCB chairman added that nine paddy straw pellet manufacturing units are operational in the state including — two each in Patiala, Moga and Mansa; and one each in Ludhiana, Fazilka and Tarn Taran.
“Eight other such units will be operational by October 2023. Other stakeholders, including Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA), have set up 11 biomass power projects of cumulative capacity 97.50 MW, which are likely to utilize 8.8 lakh metric tonne of paddy straw annually,” Vig said.
As per the paddy straw management plan, the state is aiming at zero-stubble burning incidents in seven districts – Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Hoshiarpur, Rupnagar, Mohali, SBS Nagar and Malerkotla and minimizing the cases to 50% in Patiala, Sangrur, Faridkot and Muktsar districts.
