Minister honours 150 farmers for refraining from stubble burning

Cabinet Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra today honoured 150 farmers, who have less than two acres of land and did not burn stubble, at a district-level function.

The event was organised by the Punjab Pollution Control Board and Patiala district administration at the Thapar University auditorium here.

The minister asserted that the farmers should understand the importance of stubble and refrain from burning it. He also expressed satisfaction that the farmers had burnt less stubble in the last season as compared to previous years.

Enlisting the Punjab Government’s steps to improve the environment in the state, Jouramajra cited the example of an industry in Samana where pellets are being made from stubble. He said industries were being set up across Punjab to collect stubble from fields without burning it and use it as fuel and for other purposes.

Punjab Mandi Board Chairman Harchand Singh Barsat, MLA Gurdev Singh Dev Mann, and Deputy Commissioner Showkat Ahmad Parray were also present on the occasion.

The Cabinet Minister had also called upon people to plant trees on the occasion of International Clean Air Day.

However, the programme has came under scrutiny from environmentalists and activists, who are opposing the cutting of over 7,000 trees for the four-laning of the Patiala-Sirhind Road.

Environment activists, including Navneet Kaur Bhullar, Samita Kaur, Kapil Arora, Ashleen Ahluwalia, JS Gill and others, stressed that other options should have been explored before the cutting of trees.

They have also demanded that the compensatory afforestation in lieu of trees being cut should be done in Patiala, and not in Hoshiarpur or Ropar as proposed by the government. However, the government said compensatory afforestation was not possible in Patiala due to the paucity of land.

The activists have further alleged that the government’s “Clean Air Day programme” is only a publicity exercise, while the situation on the ground is different.

The environmentalists have also expressed concern over the loss of forest cover and worsen9ing air quality in Punjab, which is leading to health issues among residents. The green activists have raised apprehensions about the environmental consequences of this activity, particularly in light of Punjab’s already limited forest cover.