District gets protection force to monitor, prevent stubble burning

As announced, the district got a Stubble Protection Force (SPF) as per the guidelines of the Commission for Air Quality Management to prevent and monitor stubble burning. Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney said that this Stubble Protection Force will include the Tehsildar/Naib Tehsildar, Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO), Assistant Registrar/Inspector, Cooperative Societies, SHO, Agriculture Development Officer/Agricultural Extension Officer and Cluster Officer.

“The job of this Stubble Protection Force will be to monitor/prevent cases of stubble burning at the

village level and report it to the SDMs on a daily basis. We have instructed all the SDMs of the district that they should ensure prevention of incidents of stubble fire by forming a Stubble Protection Force at the block level,” she said.

Additionally, the SPF will also use its resources to create awareness on alternate methods of paddy straw management during the season. “Our efforts are to provide maximum places to store stubble during the upcoming paddy season. We have asked the Chief Agriculture Officer to set up a call centre to prevent fire incidents, from where information about the machines to be provided to the farmers can be provided. Farmer awareness camps should be set up in every village and they should be made aware of the harm caused by burning stubble,” she had said while announcing the setting up of SPF.

Since last month, the air quality in Amritsar had reported a breach of PM 2.5 and PM 10. Recognising the seriousness of the situation, the Deputy Commissioner today convened a meeting and announced the formation of a Stubble Protection Force, ahead of the paddy season as the coming months are notoriously infamous for paddy straw burning and adding to the smog in winters.

Amritsar