Straw burning keeps cops on toes in Punjab

Police personnel are working for almost 18 hours per day to check stubble burning across the state.

In Sanaur, an Assistant Sub-Inspector along with three Head Constables successfully doused farm fires in Bapror village, despite stiff opposition by farmers.

“Our duty hours are sometimes over 18 hours as we personally visit fields. We have been asked to monitor stubble burning and register cases. We use tree branches and take help of farmers to douse flames,” said an ASI.

With farm fire cases already touching 2,000 and the Supreme Court monitoring the situation, the district administrations have turned heat on field officers.

“Hardly 20 days are left for sowing wheat,” said Harjit Singh of Sanaur.

A cop posted in Rajpura said, “Yesterday, I reported for duty at 8 am. We were asked to reach Rajpura and manage traffic. After the dharna was over at 3:30 pm, we were asked to visit grain market. At 7 pm, our team was sent to two villages to check farm fire incidents.”

A senior IPS officer said police personnel were hard pressed these days.