Complying with the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to bring down stubble burning cases to zero, Punjab Police, jointly with Civil Administration, has initiated a massive campaign in Punjab to educate farmers about harmful effects of stubble burning and also taking legal action against defaulters.
To comply with the directions, Special Director General of Police, Law and Order, Arpit Shukla has been assigned the task to monitor and take appropriate action.
Arpit Shukla along with concerned district’s civil and police officials is conducting joint tours at
identified villages and holding public awareness meetings with various farmers/kisan unions at district and sub-divisional level motivating them to shun stubble burning. According to Punjab Pollution Control Board, the number of farm fires recorded between Sept 15 to till yesterday are 1,581 as compared to 1,794, last year and 3,696 in 2022. Shukla said joint teams are inspecting on the spot and police teams have registered FIRs in over 900 cases. Apart from that, penalties worth over Rs 11 lakh have been imposed in about 400 cases and red entries have also been made in revenue records of hundreds of farmers.