In two weeks, 33 farmers fined for stubble burning in Mohali villages

The crackdown to enforce the ban comes amid farmers’ plea that alternatives suggested by the Punjab government are not viable.

With farmers resorting to stubble burning in villages across Mohali district, the authorities have penalised 33 of them in the past two weeks.

A farmer burning stubble in a field at Baroli village in Dera Bassi on Tuesday. Farmers have been fined ₹42,500 for flouting the ban in the past fortnight. (HT Photo)

The crackdown to enforce the ban comes amid farmers’ plea that alternatives suggested by the Punjab government are not viable. The enforcing agencies include the district administration, Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) and the agriculture department.

PPCB executive engineer Kuldeep Singh said teams have been checking stubble burning in the district.

“Farmers have been fined ₹42,500 in total, of which ₹7,500 has been collected,” he said. Fine against an erring farmer can go up to ₹15,000.

Most cases have been reported in Dera Bassi. The villages include Janetpur, Baroli and Pragpur.

‘Alternatives too costly’

Kripal Singh, a farmer at Janetpur village, said: “Stubble management as suggested by the government will cost us ₹3,000 per acre. The government should incentivise us.”

Major Singh of Dhanauni village said: “We need a tractor with an advanced engine to pull the machines suggested by the government. We cannot afford it,” he said.

Mohali deputy commissioner Gurpreet Kaur Sapra said farmers are being encouraged to shun stubble burning.

“We are mobilising farmers against the practice as it is hazardous to health,” she said, adding that teams have been deployed to sensitise farmers besides penalising the erring ones.

To check the burning of wheat residue, the PPCB in 2017 imposed ₹1.7 lakh fine on farmers in 198 cases.