Stubble burning menace back with harvest season

KARNAL: With the commencement of paddy harvesting season, the menace of stubble burning has once again returned to the region, even as district-level authorities have warned of action against the farmers found burning the paddy residue.

The authorities have made it clear that action will be taken against the erring farmers under Section 188 of the IPC and they will have to pay Rs 2,500 fine per acre for burning stubble.

However, farmers seem reluctant to follow the government’s directions as they claim that they do not have any other alternative to get rid of the paddy waste, but to burn it.

Haryana Pollution Control Board (HPCB) officials said in the absence of efforts by groundlevel officers, it is highly difficult to check this problem. Besides, the HPCB has only one sub-divisional officer in every district, who cannot effectively curb the menace in the entire district.

NO GROUND-LEVEL MONITORING

HT visited several villages in Indri and Nilokheri blocks of Karnal district and found that farmers have already started burning of stubble with no ground-level monitoring.

The farmers, who are ignoring warnings and even paying fine to the authorities, said it is difficult to remove paddy waste of around 20 quintal per acre. They claimed that they have to spend Rs 500 to Rs 800 per acre on hiring straw-reaper to cut the stubble. “We know stubble burning is harming our environment and health, but what can we do as there is no support from the government to utilise the crop residue for other purposes,” said Rajkumar, a farmer of Ladwa in Kurukshetra