Burning of crop residue goes unabated in 2 districts

Manmeet Singh Gill

Amritsar, May 12

Even as the government is trying to stop burning of crop residue in agriculture fields after harvesting of wheat, it has so far miserably failed in this endeavour as a large number of farm fires have been spotted in the rural areas of Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts on Sunday.

The state government is in no position to annoy anyone at this time as elections are just three weeks away. It can be presumed that the government action if any would be very soft this season. After paddy harvesting last year, fines imposed on farmers had failed to deter them as the government machinery was not able to recover the penalty amount from them. — Jagveer Singh, a resident

As per the data released by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, a total of 19 live farm fires were spotted in Amritsar district while the number of such incidents in Tarn Taran district was 54. However, this is just the data about the number of farm fires and not how many fields have been burnt.

A visit to the rural areas revealed that crop residue on hundreds of acres was burnt during the last few days. Though incidents of burning crop residue on public holidays such as Sundays are always more as compared to normal working days as it is generally perceived that no one from the government department would come for an inspection. Besides, elections this year have emboldened farmers as employees of government departments have been deployed on poll duties.

The district administrations have yet to take action to stop farm fires. “The state government is in no position to annoy anyone at this time as elections are just three weeks away. It can be presumed that the government action if any would be very soft this season,” said Jagveer Singh, a resident.

Moreover, a token action after paddy harvesting last year when fines were imposed on farmers too had failed to deter them as the government machinery was not able to recover the penalty amount from them. he added.

Residents said action should be taken against all those who cause air pollution be it farmers or anybody else. “Apart from burning the crop residue, a large number of trees and saplings planted along roads have been damaged by farm fires. At least action should be taken for causing damage to trees and saplings which are public property,” said Joginder Singh, a senior citizen.