2 weeks Ago By Chitleen K Sethi
Chandigarh: The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has claimed a “drastic” decrease in stubble burning in the state, an annual occurrence often blamed for stoking pollution in New Delhi at the onset of winter. This comes weeks after the Supreme Court pulled up the Punjab and Haryana governments for insufficient action in curbing farm fires, and days ahead of the next hearing on the matter. According to data recorded by the PPCB, the number of farm fire incidents between 15 September and 4 November this year stood at 4,145, compared to 14,173 in the same period last year, and 26,583 in 2022.
These figures, PPCB officials said, are based on satellite images. They have also predicted that this year’s figure might not cross 10,000. This “drastic” dip, PPCB officials further said, is a result of unprecedented measures taken by the board after the apex court’s intervention, such as imposing fines and filing police complaints against farmers who burn paddy stubble to clear their fields.
Amritpal Singh Chahal, environmental engineer at the PPCB and nodal officer for stubble burning control in Punjab, told ThePrint that unlike previous years, when state governments were under pressure from farmer unions to not penalise erring farmers, the board has this year given specially constituted teams in districts complete freedom to take strict measures. “The number of FIRs registered against erring farmers under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has more than doubled this year,” Chahal further said, sharing PPCB data with ThePrint. Section 223 of the BNS lays out the punishment for ‘disobeying orders from public servants that can lead to obstruction or danger’.
In 2021, no FIR was registered under Section 188 of the IPC (the equivalent of Section 223 of the BNS) against any farmer after Captain Amarinder Singh’s Congress government decided that farmers would not be penalised for burning paddy straw residue. In 2022, the Bhagwant Mann-led government also took a lenient stand and only five FIRs were registered. However, the number of police complaints shot up last year.
In 2023, a total of 1,144 FIRs were registered between 15 September and 30 November, while the number until November 5 this year had already touched 2,768. On 16 October, the Supreme Court had pulled up Punjab and Haryana over their failure to take action against farmers who burnt paddy straw residue. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Abhay S.
Oka slammed the two states for their “defiant attitude” towards taking penal action against farmers. The bench also expressed its dissatisfaction at the nominal amount being charged as fines from violators. During its next hearing on 23 October, when the chief secretaries of Punjab and Haryana were present in court, the bench directed the Centre to ensure the proper exercise of powers under Section 15 of the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region (CAQM) Act, which empowers the government to collect an environment compensation penalty.
The next hearing is slated for 14 November. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann blamed the Centre for not giving compensation to farmers taking steps to manage paddy waste and not burn it. Farmers in Punjab and Haryana have illegally burnt paddy stubble to clear their fields for years.
However, with growing criticism of the practice which led to air pollution in the region, many farmers have managed the straw by ploughing it back into the fields. Farmers resort to widespread burning of paddy residue because they have less than 25 days to prepare their fields between the paddy harvest and the sowing of wheat. Unlike wheat straw, paddy stubble cannot be used as fodder because it is high in silica.
After a harvest, farmers have to deal with about 20 million metric tonnes of paddy straw waste in Punjab, where paddy is grown on more than 30 million hectares. “If Prime Minister Modi can stop the Ukraine war he can also stop farm fires in North India,” Mann had remarked while speaking to the media in New Delhi on 18 October. “A joint meeting of all the stakeholder states is required and the centre needs to understand the problems being faced by the farmers as well.
The farmers do not want to grow paddy but they are because they are feeding the central pool,” he added. “As long as the central pool of paddy, is full the farmers of Punjab are doing a great job but then they turn villains. The government of India should also understand that after the paddy has been grown its waste too has to be managed.
A practical solution acceptable to everyone needs to be found,” Mann had said at the time. Also Read: Centre doubles penalties for stubble burning 2 weeks after being pulled up by SC for inaction According to the PPCB, the number of paddy straw fire incidents has decreased gradually since 2021 when over 71,300 cases were reported between 15 September and 30 November—the period when farmers are preparing the fields for wheat cultivation after the end of paddy season. In 2022, the number of farm fire incidents came down to around 50,000 before dropping further in 2023 to a little over 36,600.
Authorities have been cracking down by imposing an environmental compensation penalty on farmers who burn paddy straw in their fields under the CAQM Act. In 2021, the government had imposed environmental compensation penalties on over 10,000 farmers and was supposed to collect Rs 2.85 crore.
However, the total amount recovered was only Rs 1.9 lakh. In 2022, only 6,700 were asked to pay the environment compensation and the total amount to be collected was Rs 1.
72 crore. However, only Rs 10,000 was collected. In 2023, another 10,000 farmers were fined and over Rs 2.
5 crore was to be collected. However, only Rs 1.8 crore was collected.
Until 5 November this year, almost 2,300 farmers have been asked to pay environment compensation and over Rs 60 lakh has to be collected, of which Rs 53.7 lakh has already been collected. The fines are imposed based on the total land unit owned by the erring farmer.
The Central government on Wednesday doubled the penalty amount to Rs 5,000 for farmers with less than two acres of land, Rs 10,000 for those with between two and five acres, and Rs 30,000 for landholdings above five acres. Apart from the fines, the government has also significantly ramped up red entries in revenue records of farmers who set their paddy residue on fire, making it tougher for them to apply for loans and subsidies. Revenue officials logged red entries in the revenue records of over 8,500 farmers between 15 September and 30 November in 2021.
The number came down to 4,600 in the same period in 2022 before falling further in 2023 when less than 2,500 farmers were punished with red entries. This year, almost 2,300 red entries have been made in revenue records until November 5. This year, the government has also initiated the prosecution of 56 nodal officers under section 14 of the CAQM Act which authorises the government to take action against non-performing officials responsible for stopping damage to the environment.
Apart from this, another 1,000 nodal offices have been issued warnings by the PPCB. Sources in the PPCB added that more than a dozen deputy commissioners have also been issued show-cause notices by the agriculture secretary for not acting promptly against farm fires. (Edited by Sugita Katyal) Also Read: Farm fires caused just 4% of Delhi’s air pollution, vehicles main culprit, finds pre-Diwali analysis var ytflag = 0;var myListener = function() {document.
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