Taking a serious view of the surge in stubble-burning cases in the last two days, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar Deputy Commissioner Aashika Jain has made it clear that violators in stubble- burning incidents would not be spared.
During the review of the working of SDMs, Cluster Officers and Nodal Officers, she asked them to be vigilant to such incidents and swung into action immediately by dousing the fire with the help of fire tenders or other ways besides of which, upon visiting 55 imposing environmental compensation.
She said that though the administration has provided a number of Crop Residue Management machinery on subsidies to the cooperative societies, groups and individual farmers, the rise in fire incidents is clearly an act of environmental degradation that could not be tolerated.
Giving details of the fire incidents reported by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre through the Satellite, she said that we have a list of 79 incidents, out sites, 37 cases were found with no crop burning while 18 cases have been observed as fire incidents of crop residues. The cases observed as crop burning incidents have been taken seriously and an environmental compensation of Rs 47500 has been imposed in these cases. The cases include one in the Mohali Sub Division and 17 in the Derabassi Sub Division. She said that in the last two days, PRSC has reported 24 incidents that are being ob- served by visiting the fields by the Nodal officers.
The Deputy Commissioner further said that as the National Green Tribunal has also taken serious note of the increasing incidents in the state, the violators would not be spared. She said the SDMs have been said to make red entries in the revenue records of the violators besides recovery of environmental compensation imposed on them. Making repeated appeals to the farmers, she said that the district has an abundant quantity of Crop Residue Management machinery and we should use it maximum to manage stubble without setting it on fire. She said that the Administration has also issued helpline numbers; 0172-2219505 and 2219506 for helping the farmers to get CRM machinery in their proximity.
She also directed the SDMs, Cluster Officers and Nodal Officers deputed in the field to be more vigilant to curb the fire incidents. She said that the ADC (Urban Development) Damanjit Singh Mann has been entrusted with the task of daily reporting of the action taken against the violators.