Jalandhar, October 30 (NEWS HUNT)-In a bid to curtail the stubble burning practices in Jalandhar, the district administration has imposed an environmental componsation worth Rs. 2.25 lakh in 90 cases of stubble burning till October 29, this.
Divulging the details, Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thori said that a multi-pronged strategy was being adopted by the authorities to curb such instances ranging from IEC campaign to enforcement drive.
The DC further added that so far red entries were made in 13 cases of stubble burning besides other action. He directed the officials to ensure that red entry was made in all instances, where stubble burning was verified by the competent authorities.
Thori further appealed the peasantry to not to resort to the stubble burning practices as the smog from the fire can aggravate problems for the asthma patients who were already suffering from compromised immune system.
The deputy commissioner asked officials to keep a close tab over the farm fire incidents by ensuring physical verification in each case. The deputy commissioner informed that a slew of measures were being taken by the administration to provide stubble management equipment to farmers at cheaper rates, especially free of cost to small and marginal farmers across all custom hiring centres. I-Khet app was also launched by the government wherein farmers can check the availability of such machinery at there nearest CHCs, he added.
Pointing out further, Additional Deputy Commissioner Amarjit Bains said that daily monitoring of farm fire incidents was being ensured through an elaborate mechanism where field officials make physical verification of each incident reported. Besides, awareness activities were being undertaken by the cooperative department, agriculture department and rural development & panchayat department.
Giving more details, Executive Engineer Punjab Pollution Control Board Sukhdev Singh said that stubble burning cases in Jalandhar have witnessed an decline of nearly 52 percent in two years with 389 cases reported this year till October 29, in comparison of 734 cases reported during the same period in 2019 while 683 cases were reported last year.
