Despite warning by administration, Mohali farmers start burning stubble

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Gurpreet Kaur Sapra, however, issued an order that harvesters without Straw Management System (SMS) would not be allowed on fields.

On asking a farmer, who was burning his paddy stubble in Janetpur village, he refused to speak.

Deputy Commissioner Sapra also chaired a meeting on Thursday the of the subdivisional magistrates (SDM) of Derabassi and Kharar and directed them to ensure that the harvesters without the SMS did not run on the fields. She asked the SDMs to impound the harvesters without the SMS.

The DC also directed agriculture and cooperative department to provide machinery for mixing stubble in field on subsidised rates. There are a total of 67 cooperative societies and 148 machines for mixing the paddy stubble were provided to 64 of them. The three remaining societies will get the machines by October 15.

The DC said that more effective steps would be taken to motivate people for not burning the stubble. She directed the officials to organise awareness camps in villages. “Farmers unions, youth clubs and schoolchildren should be made participants of these camps. Apart from this, awareness should also be generated through social media,” she said.