Punjab govt move to burn hole in pockets of farmers setting farms on fire comes a cropper

Out of the total environmental compensation imposed on farmers, a sum of Rs 51.82 lakh was levied in Punjab’s Majha districts – Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, and Pathankot – which is 46.02% of the total fine. While the fine in Punjab’s Doaba districts – Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar – was Rs 5.92 lakh (which is 5.26% of the total environmental compensation imposed on farmers), the penalty levied in 15 districts of Punjab’s Malwa region was 48.72% of the total fine. At the same time, a total of 1,064 field fire cases are still pending on which the government is yet to impose environmental compensation, according to the PPCB data.

Amritsar, the border district of Majha, tops the “imposition of environmental compensation” table with Rs 22.35 lakh in 894 stubble burning cases in which only Rs 1.02 lakh has been recovered. It is followed by its neighbouring district Tarn Taran (again in Punjab’s Majha region) where a fine of Rs 22.15 lakh has been imposed in 895 farm fire cases, with a recovery of only Rs 6.15 lakh till November 9. In Gurdaspur, the officials imposed a fine of Rs 7.35 lakh in 292 stubble burning cases but recovered only Rs 50,000 till November 9. In Ludhiana, an environmental compensation of Rs 7.35 lakh was imposed on farmers in 286 field fire cases, with a recovery of Rs 82,500 till November 9. While in Patiala the fine imposed on farmers was Rs 7.17 lakh in 266 cases with a recovery of Rs 35,000, in Sangrur the penalty imposed on farmers was Rs 6.7 lakh with zero recovery from this district till November 9, according to PPCB data.

In Ferozepur Rs 6.27 lakh fine was levied in 251 cases wherein the recovery was Rs 47,500 till November 9. The environmental compensation imposed on farmers in Barnala was Rs 3.65 lakh in 146 paddy straw burning cases, with a recovery of just Rs 7,500.

According to the PPCB data, there was zero recovery in 10 out of 23 districts of Punjab till November 9. They include Malerkotla, Sangrur, SAS Nagar, Pathankot, Moga, Mansa, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Fazilka, and Faridkot. In 1,064 farm fire cases, the officials are yet to impose the fine, according to the PPCB data. Out of these pending cases – 297 were from Moga, 244 from Bathinda, 138 from Kapurthala, 118 from Ludhiana, and 101 from Barnala. To add to the environmental woes, farmer union leaders are openly telling paddy growers not to pay any fine and rather are protesting against this move of the government.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan, general secretary of BKU Ugrahan, said, “In the absence of proper means to manage the paddy stubble, it is not justified to impose any sort of fine on farmers. Our union has repeatedly said that no penalty should be given to the district administration.”

Environmental compensation is being imposed on farmers on the directions of National Green Tribunal and it has to be collected by the respective district deputy commissioner’s office.

So far, a total of 27 FIRs have been lodged under Section 39 of Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, against farmers and cases have been registered under Section 188 (disobeying the orders duly promulgated by a public servant) of the IPC against 67 farmers.