IEP Chandigarh, October 10
Punjab Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua held a review meeting with Punjab top officials and all deputy commissioners of the state on stubble management and further reduce the stubble burning cases.
He said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is making concrete efforts to make farmers aware and to achieve this purpose, the concerned officials of the districts should intensify their campaign to ensure minimal cases of stubble fire across the state.
Earlier, on September 22, the Chief Secretary also held a meeting and during this time, the Chief Secretary took the progress report from the Deputy Commissioner on stubble management in each district. He said that this time DCs should speed up in their respective districts to stop the incidents of stubble burning in Punjab by all means. He said that the farmers should be given maximum assistance to purchase Happy Seeder and other such tools/machines to prevent stubble burning.
The Chief Secretary said that the Punjab government is assiduously working on the management of stubble instead of burning it to protect the environment, especially the air and soil. He said that the farmers should be explained about the damage caused by stubble burning. He said that from mid-October to mid-November, the level of air pollution increases every year due to stubble burning, which has a very negative impact on people’s health, especially children and the elderly. Therefore, farmers should be made aware of stubble management instead of burning it.
The chief secretary was informed that due to the awareness of the state government about not burning stubble and the damage caused by it, there is a possibility of a big reduction in stubble burning incidents this year. The Chief Secretary said that more awareness should be spread among the farmers by making announcements through different mediums especially religious places and through NGOs. He said that the farmers should be made aware that stubble and paddy burning has a lot of damage at the personal and social level.
The Chief Secretary said that in the villages where cases of stubble burning reported in the past, the administration has been more vigilant. He said that the farmers should also be made aware through the children studying in schools that burning the stubble will give the children a ‘deleterious and polluted’ future. The Chief Secretary instructed the Deputy Commissioners that this year the cases of stubble burning should be stopped at all costs and negligence in this regard will not be tolerated.
