Chandigarh, September 22:
Punjab Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua has directed all the Deputy Commissioners to make proper arrangements in their respective districts to prevent stubble burning by all means.
He said that special efforts are being made by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to make farmers sensitise about this menace. Financial assistance is also being provided to the farmers for purchase of happy seeder and other such tools for further reduction of stubble and for stubble management.
Presiding over a meeting with all Deputy Commissioners and senior officials of Punjab, the Chief Secretary said that the state government is taking special initiative to promote management of stubble instead of burning it to save the environment from pollution.
He asked officials to make farmers aware that if a farmer who burns stubble, will get a red entry in his revenue record, then he may be deprived of many government schemes. He said that due to the increase in pollution levels in North India due to stubble burning, Punjab has to face embarrassment at national level in the last so farmers should be made aware of stubble management instead of burning it.
He said that although there is a law regarding non-burning of straw, but despite this, incidents of burning of straw were reported from many places. While reviewing the stubble management and distribution of machines/tools in each district, the Chief Secretary said that the district administration should make the farmers aware of environmental protection through various means and explain to them how much damage is caused by stubble and paddy burning.
The Chief Secretary said that in the villages where there have been cases of stubble burning, the administration should be more vigilant. He said that the farmers should also be made aware through the students about burning the stubble that it will give the children a ‘dirty and polluted’ future. Giving instructions to the Deputy Commissioners, the Chief Secretary said that this year the cases of stubble burning should be stopped in all circumstances and no negligence will be tolerated in this regard.
Apart from all Deputy Commissioners, senior officials of Agriculture Department, Rural Development Department, Revenue Department and Pollution Board were present in the meeting.
