Jalandhar district sees 60 fresh farm fire cases, count reaches 171

Aparna Banerji

Jalandhar, October 30

With 60 new cases of farm fire being reported, the number rose to 171 today in the district. Until October 28, the figure had stood at 111. On Monday alone, as many as 30 new farm fires were reported in Jalandhar. In fact, the last days of October have seen a persistent rise in cases of farm fire being reported.

Consistent with the previous tally, Shahkot constantly leads in the number of farm fires reported in a single tehsil. As many as 73 of the 171 farm fires have been reported at Shahkot, 38 at Nakodar, 37 at Phillaur, 20 at Jalandhar-2, 3 at Jalandhar-1 and nil at Adampur.

Until October 28, farm fires in the same areas were 111: Shahkot (55), Nakodar (21), Jalandhar 2 (18), Phillaur (15) and Jalandhar 1 (2). While officials had said the number of farm fires in Jalandhar is expected to go up starting from November first week to middle of that month, the massive increase in per day incidents has already begun to be registered.

Until now, the villages where most farm fires were reported are also in the Shahkot tehsil. At village Talwandi Butian, six farm fires have been reported so far (this season).

Meanwhile, the air quality of Jalandhar remained at an average 183 today — with the maximum AQI recorded at 287 and minimum at 75.

Notably, while the tally of farm fires at 171 for the district is much less than other districts in the state and considerably less than previous years as well, officials are keeping their fingers crossed as a gradual increase is expected at least till mid November.

The previous years’ tally of stubble fires for Jalandhar was significantly higher. In 2019, as many as 1,552 stubble fires were reported in Jalandhar, while in 2020 the number rose to 1805. In 2021, 2,548 farm fires were reported. Last year, there were 1388 incidents of farmers setting fire to the crop stubble.

Angrej Singh, a sarpanch of Talwandi Butiyan village (where six farm fires have been reported so far) at Shahkot, expressed helplessness about people who refuse to give up the practice.

Angrej Singh, a proactive sarpanch involved in preventing farm fires, said, “Since the harvest began, we have been making daily announcements at the village asking farmers not to burn stubble. I myself manage paddy stubble undertaking the mulcher method and do not set fire to residue in my field. I will now plant potatoes for which the stubble mulching incorporates previous crop’s residue into the soil. But what do we say of those who don’t listen. They do not understand the reason, despite repeated requests, meetings and awareness drives.”

He said, “The silver lining to the dark cloud is that stubble fires in our village have significantly reduced compared to previous years. Every day, I am telling farmers that the panchayat will not be responsible for any action they face for burning stubble. I also call on the administration to encourage farmers like Sukhchain Singh in our village who hasn’t set fire to his 70 acre of crop for the past many years and his produce has only increased.”

In figures

The previous years’ tally of stubble fires for Jalandhar was significantly higher. In 2019, as many as 1,552 stubble fires were reported in Jalandhar, while in 2020 the number

rose to 1805. In 2021, 2,548 farm fires were reported. Last year, there were 1,388 incidents of farmers setting fire to the crop stubble.