Teams formed for night vigil to curb stubble burning in Sirsa
To curb stubble burning incidents in Sirsa, the agriculture, police and fire departments have formed 10 teams that will conduct patrolling in their assigned villages from 11 pm to 3 am to monitor and prevent such cases. This action comes after incidents of stubble burning were flagged by Haryana Space Applications Centre (HARSAC) in the district.
On Tuesday night, Deputy Director of Agriculture Sukhdev Singh with his team visited Mangala, Alipurm, Titu Khera, Vaidwala, Moriwala, Suchan Kotli, Kesupura, Kotli, and Sikanderpur villages. During the visit, several incidents of burning came to the fore. The department filed FIRs and imposed fines on seven farmers.
Singh reported that the paddy harvest in the district was nearly complete and farmers were managing the leftover stubble in their fields. To encourage sustainable practices, the government is providing a subsidy of Rs 1,000 per acre for managing paddy stubble. He said farmers could apply for this subsidy through the Agriculture Department’s portal, agriharyana.gov.in. So far, 23,682 farmers in the district have registered approximately 2,00,396 acres under this scheme.
He warned that farmers caught burning stubble would face strict action, including fines, FIRs and a “red entry” in their Meri Fasal Mera Byora record. This red entry will bar them from selling crops through the e-procurement system in mandis for the next two seasons.
According to data from HARSAC, Sirsa ranks third in Haryana for incidents of paddy-stubble burning, with 147 reported locations, after Jind and Kaithal. These figures are up to November 24. However, after investigation by the local Agriculture Department, around 50 of these incidents were found to be true.
