No let-up in fires ahead of event

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 4

After relief for a couple of days, the cases of stubble-burning again saw a spike on Sunday and Monday with the holy town of Sultanpur Lodhi along with Nakodar, Phillaur and Shahkot accounting for a majority of the incidents.

The last two days saw 79 stubble fires in Sultanpur Lodhi, 88 Nakodar, 40 Shahkot and 82 Phillaur. While 34 of the total 59 stubble burning incidents in Kapurthala on Sunday were from Sultanpur Lodhi, on Monday, the town witnessed 45 incidents.

While burning of crop residue in Punjab is squarely being blamed for air pollution in Delhi, the politics over the issue has further angered farmers. Tarsem Singh, a farmer, said, “In view of the 550th Parkash Purb, we had demanded compensation and farm implements to manage stubble, but to no avail. The area has maximum farmers with small landholdings ranging from 2-4 acres. They have limited resources.”

Salwinder Singh of Lohian said, “We need four tractors to clear 5-6 acres of land of stubble. Only rich farmers can afford that. The machine costs Rs 12-15 lakh and about Rs 4 lakh after subsidy. The subsidy has also not reached all farmers. Many canit even afford it after the subsidy.”