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With measures such as seizure of unauthorized farm implements and fines for ignoring the dangers of stubble burning, the Uttar Pradesh government is planning to take legal action, including to lodge FIRs against criminals.
Although education programs were conducted for those who reported the dangers of straw burning, the results did not improve.
According to the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), which is also used by the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPCB), there are about 800 different types of agricultural fire was reported in the two weeks from 18 districts.
These are Aligarh, Barabanki, Fatehpur, Kanpur Nagar, Mathura, Hardoi, Sambhal, Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Meerut, Saharanpur, Rampur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur, Bulandshahr, Shamli and Bareilly.
Although the government is encouraging farmers to adopt other methods to eliminate the straw, farmers say these methods are “unhelpful”.
Gurupal Singh, a farmer of Powayan in Shahjahanpur said, “The easiest way to get rid of the straw is to burn it.
“This work should also be done quickly to prepare the field for the next harvest. In this situation, poor farmers like me have no choice but to burn the straw,” he said.
Singh said he was convicted of stubble burning in 2019.
In addition to conducting relief programmes, the district administration is also punishing farmers with fines.
In Rampur, the district administration has given a compensation of Rs 55,000 to different farmers across the district for stubble burning in a week.
According to the district officials, 32,500 rupees of this have been collected as payment so far.
Similarly, in Fatehpur district, the organization has collected Rs 27,000 as compensation from farmers involved in stubble burning.
The Fatehpur district office has also arrested 16 harvesters who were working without proper equipment to reduce the weed.
According to the instructions of the state government, for anyone caught burning agricultural residues or garbage in fields in Uttar Pradesh, the fine is Rs 2,500 for fields less than two acres, Rs 5,000 for two-five acres and Rs 15,000 for fields above five acres. .
Bulandshahr Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Finance) Vivek Kumar Mishra said, “Apart from fines, farmers can face up to six months imprisonment for second offences. It has been requested please stay alert and report anything related to straw burning.”
Bulandshahr in western Uttar Pradesh is one of the worst air quality districts in the state.
The district administration has organized more than two dozen awareness camps to educate farmers about the dangers of stubble burning. Teams have also been formed at the level of technology to report these incidents, the official said.
The district administration has bound the owners of the villages not to burn the straw.
Sultanpur District Magistrate Raveesh Gupta said, “Villagers have been asked to file an FIR against anyone involved in stubble burning. Villagers have been asked to take pictures of the incident an FIR should be lodged.”
Two farmers were fined Rs 2,500 each for burning straw in the district on October 31. The same action will be taken against anyone found burning straw, he warned.
The latest action calls for stronger action on the package, which is similar to a government order sent to all divisional commissioners, district magistrates, and district police chiefs last month by the agency. of Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra.
In his letter, the head of the department asked the officials to take legal action against the farmers found burning the remaining crops and to make them aware of the dangers of fire. touch the environment.
According to the government, these legal measures also include filing FIRs against those who continue to commit violence by burning straw.
Burning of crop residues and garbage is found to be a major cause of air pollution in winter. Air quality deteriorates every year in October-November when the paddy harvest is completed.
These fire incidents are expected to increase in the coming days, say agricultural scientists.
“Paddy cultivation in Uttar Pradesh was delayed by an average of 35 days this year due to bad and delayed monsoon. Due to this, paddy harvesting is expected to continue till the last week of November. ,” said the Chief Scientist of the Indian Council. Agricultural Research (ICAR) Shubham Singh.
The late harvest could be a troubling indicator of air quality if straw burning practices continue, he said.
“Temperatures will drop again at the end of November and winter will set in. If straw burning is done in these weather conditions, the smoke will take longer to settle and the air will remain polluted for a long time, ” explained Singh.
(Only the headline and picture of this report were reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content was auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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