With nearly 70% of paddy harvest completed in Punjab, the hinterland of the state is seeing a sharp rise in the number of farm fires, with 3,032 separate blazes reported on Thursday.
Of the total number of farm fires reported this year, 55% was reported in the last five days alone.
A total of 23,465 farm fires have been reported so far. It is nearly half the 44,086 farm fires that were reported for the same period, until November 4, last year.
On November 4, 2020, 4,908 farm fires were reported in the state, while on the same day in 2019, 5,953 farm fires were recorded.
While some farmers are exploring alternatives ways to handle the post-harvest straw, most medium and marginal farmer are burning it to clear their farms for sowing wheat.
Also Read: Crackers or not, air quality in Delhi likely to continue downward slide: IMD
An official of Punjab’s Agriculture Department called for the need to develop a mechanism to give the farmers incentives to avoid burning their straw.
“If the government wants to end this practice, it should implement a Supreme Court’s judgment on this, and give ₹100 per quintal as incentive to hand over the straw. It will help… because farmers can’t spend extra amount of money due to high input costs to clear their fields using machinery,” said Jugraj Singh, a farm leader from Samana in Punjab.
Ludhiana, with 292 active fire events, reported the highest number of farm fires on Thursday, followed by Sangrur (283), Barnala (237) and Ferozpur (278).
Punjab’s Pollution Control Board has decided to send expert teams to various parts of the state to issue challans to farmers for burning straw.
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest For News Update Click Here
