Data mismatch: Of 413 fires reported last year, 398 non-existent

There is a wide gap between the number of fire cases reported by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) and the actual number of stubble burning incidents verified by government personnel deployed as nodal officers.

Of 413 fires reported by the PRSC last year, 398 turned out to be non-existent, while 11 police cases were registered against willful defaulters for 15 fires verified by officials during the harvesting season of 2023 kharif crops, according to information collected from the district administration office.

The administration had also imposed fines worth Rs 40,000 on tillers and owners of the fields where the fires were verified last year.

Exhibiting a deviation from data, all 25 incidents shared by the PRSC turned out to be non-existent.

Meanwhile, the administration has booked a farmer of Binjoki village in Amargarh subdivision for allegedly violating prohibition orders regarding the burning of agricultural waste two days ago. An attempt made by him was foiled by officials led by DC Pallavi and SSP Gagan Ajit Singh.

The PRSC’s Crop Residue Burning Information and Management System (CRBIMS) provides graphical statics and fire event details in a tabular form in excel sheets daily to the Punjab Pollution Control Board. Special teams of nodal officers and cluster incharges, supervised by their respective SDMs, are asked to visit the locations and update the information collected from the location on the online application without delay.

“Having received the desired results till now, we have advised senior functionaries to continue IEC (Information , Education and Communication) activities to sensitise all stakeholders on the need for strict compliance of guidelines of the National Green Tribunal, besides making maximum use of the information received from the PRSC for initiating further action in case of a fire,” the DC said.