Red-Entries Against Farmers Burning Stubble in Punjab

Deputy Commissioner Amit Talwar has directed strict guidelines over incidents of stubble burning. The instances of stubble burning will be monitored closely in the Dera Bassi Area of the Mohali district of Punjab.

According to authorities, the district administration has already issued a challan following a report of a stubble-burning event in the Dera Bassi area.

Officials claim that Deputy Commissioner Amit Talwar has directed them to write red entries in the khasra girdwari income records against farmers who disobey the regulations on stubble burning.

A review meeting was also held in this respect, and participants included the Chief Agricultural Officer, all of the district's Sub-Divisional Magistrates, the Environmental Engineer from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), and police officers.

An official reported that during the conference, the SDMs were instructed to contact the villages with the highest number of recorded stubble fire incidences in the previous years.

Additionally, it was mandated that nodal officers and patwaris respond within 48 hours to agricultural fire reports received from the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) and update the information on the ATR application created by the PRSC.

Moreover, the police have been instructed to file Section 188 charges against anyone seen engaging in stubble burning.

The Punjab Pollution Control Board was instructed to cooperate with all the stakeholder departments, and the agricultural department was given the task of organizing awareness campaigns in villages and convincing farmers.

The Environmental Engineer from PPCB informed that, by NGT orders, environmental compensation of Rs 2,500 per incident will be imposed for sites under 2 acres, a fine of Rs 5,000 per incident will be imposed for sites between 2 and 5 acres, and a fine of Rs 15,000 per incident will be imposed for sites over 5 acres, in addition to prosecuting the farmer under Section 39 of Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act.