PATIALA: The Rs 100 per quintal financial assistance to farmers for not setting the crop residue on fire has failed to bring down the stubble-burning incidents in Punjab, as the number of cases have already crossed the 48,000 mark on Monday. The number of such incidents this season is going to surpass last year’s count of 49,000 as over 2,000 cases are being reported on a daily basis.

On Sunday (November 10), 2,147 cases of stubble burning were recorded in the state, taking the total to 48,155 since September 23, according to the data released by Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC). Last year, only 40,774 cases were reported till November 10.

Sangrur had the highest number of stubble burning cases reported on Monday at 178 followed by Mansa (162), Bathinda (158), Barnala (131), Muktsar (57), Faridkot (43), Patiala (41), Moga (10), Amritsar (4), Fatehgarh Sahib (3), Tarn Taran (3), Fazilka (3) and Ludhiana (1).

The rising number of stubble-burning incidents has dashed the hopes of state officials engaged in the efforts to curb farm fires for the last three years. The high number of farm fires also indicates that the experiment to bring down these numbers by introducing in-situ stubble management machines has failed in the state.

Punjab agriculture secretary Kahan Singh Pannu, who is also the nodal officer to curb stubble burning, said it is surprising to know that despite all efforts, farmers are refusing to give up the practice. “While the number has dropped from more than 80,000 in 2017 to nearly 50,000 this year, there is nothing to cheer about till date,” he said.

Meanwhile, sources in the state government said the proposal to withdraw subsidy given on stubble management equipment to farmers, who set crop residue on fire, is under consideration. Pannu said no such decision is being considered, but some of the district monitoring committees are already trying to dissuade farmers from burning the stubble by claiming that this could lead to withdrawal of subsidies given on the stubble management machines bought by them.

Pannu said it was apparent that the subsidies given on stubble management machines had failed to generate the desired results. “The farmers are adamant about seeking compensation of Rs 200 per quintal to manage the stubble of their own. The cost of running the stubble management machines definitely prevented them from adopting these techniques in a big way,” he said

Despite all the efforts, including FIRs that have been registered against farmers, the imposition of the environmental compensation and awareness drives, farmers have not adopted alternative means to manage stubble.

According to a senior state official, Punjab CM Amarinder Singh had asked the Centre to chip in Rs 100 to compensate farmers for not setting stubble on fire. While the CM had written a letter in this regard a month ago, the Union government did not respond and ultimately the state government itself announced the compensation after the recent Supreme Court verdict. “If a decision in this regard had been taken before the beginning of the harvest season, things could have been different,” he said. “Now, we are hoping the compensation announced for farmers will show some results during the next harvest,” the official said.

