Paddy residue burning cases in Amritsar district
Even as the harvesting of basmati crop is at the initial stage, cases of burning of crop residue in the fields have started coming. The Punjab Remote Sensing Centre has reported a total of 15 fire incidents in the last three days.
A total of 18 such incidents have been reported from Punjab so far, out of which maximum cases are from the Majha region. The harvesting of paddy starts early in Majha as compared to Malwa and Doaba. In the district, fire cases have been reported from the vegetable belts of Majitha, Jandiala Guru and Verka blocks.
Vegetable growers in a hurry to make time for an extra crop in between paddy harvesting and wheat sowing use fire as a convenient method to clear their fields of crop residue in no time.
The remote sensing centre had spotted nine fire incidents of the season in the district on September 15.
Punjab Pollution Control Board Executive Engineer Sukhdev Singh said after physical verification, fire was spotted at three of the nine places. He said the administration has already imposed a fine of ~2,500 on a farmer and action is being taken in other cases.
After receiving a report from the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, teams of the administration conducted a physical verification.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney has asked officials of the Revenue Department to get FIRs registered against those farmers who burn crop residue. She asked the department to make red entries in the revenue records of such farmers. The DC asked the cops to increase patrolling in their areas to spot fires and take action.
The district administration has also identified 93 hotspot villages where maximum fire incidents were reported last season and deputed teams to keep an eye on these places.
