Jalandhar, November 14: Though Punjab has already exceeded the number of paddy stubble-burning incidents this year as compared to 2017, the state has recorded a decrease in the acreage put on fire.
According to Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), the state has witnessed paddy stubble fire on 14.05 lakh hectares till date against 18 lakh hectares last year by the same time. This means that around 22zper cent less stubble has been burnt this year.
Total 30.42 lakh hectare area was under rice cultivation this year, including over 25 lakh hectare under paddy. Farmers mostly burn the paddy stubble and Basmati residue is used as cattle fodder.
No doubt that the paddy stubble fire incidents have increased this year as compared to last year, but when we measure the total acreage, it is quite less,” said PPCB Member Secretary Krunesh Garg.
He added that mostly small and marginal farmers resorted to stubble burning this year because at some places machinery reached a bit late. “It is the first year of supplying subsidied machinery, hence the delay,” he reasoned.
Kulwant Singh of Kishangarh village in Mansa District, who is the leader of Punjab kisan union, Dakaunda, said that at his place, majority farmers have burnt the stubble on field. “Most of them were small and marginal farmers with two to five acres of land. They lacked resources to manage the stubble and are not in a position to take the risk of new technology pertaining to stubble management,” said he.
Our village has 5,600 acres under cultivation and majority of the farmers have set their fields on fire. Still around 25 per cent less area was put on fire this year in our village because most of the big farmers with over 10 acres of land had used paddy stubble management machines,” added he.
Jagdeep Singh, a farmer of Kanoi village in Sangrur district, which has seen maximum 6,060 stubble burning cases in the state this year, said that he has been using the stubble management machinery. “I also provide it to my fellow farmers. Government needs to support small and marginal farmers by providing the machinery at their doorstep or giving financial assistance to manage the stubble,” he said.
General Secretary of BKU, Dakaunda, Jagmohan Singh said that if government pays them Rs 200 per quintal paddy, then the farmers will manage the stubble on their own.
Meanwhile, PPCB has imposed Rs 95 lakh fine as environment compensation this year in just 3,400 cases. This penalty is higher than last year because in majority burning cases, penalty could not be imposed. “As physical verification of each case is not possible when thousands of fires are being reported on a single day, imposing fine without visiting the spot is not possible,” said a senior official at PPCB requesting anonymity.
Also for the past one month ever since paddy harvesting is going on, Punjab’s Air Quality Index (AQI) is between satisfactory and moderate level, which is far better compared to last year when it was in the poor quality zone.
This time, Punjab has also shut over 2,700 brick kilns since October 1 as these used to burn 5,000 tonnes coal daily. It was only on the Diwali night that Punjab saw a poor AQI.
Source Indian Express
