The Supreme Court has ordered action against farmers who burn stubble.
A team of three government officials was allegedly held hostage by a group of farmers in Haryana's Ambala district on Thursday when they were on patrol to check stubble burning.
The incident took place in Ambala's in Kot Kachua village, when the team, which included a patwari (land records official), a gram sachiv (village development officer), and an agriculture department official, visited the village to verify a satellite image provided by the Haryana Space Applications Centre (HARSAC), Hisar, on stubble burning and accordingly issue a challan.
The farmers allegedly surrounded the team's vehicle and held them hostage for several hours, demanding that the government provide them with a subsidy for purchasing straw management machines. They also demanded that the government increase the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy.
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The officials were eventually released after the intervention of senior police officers and district administration officials.
The incident comes at a time when the Punjab and Haryana governments are cracking down on stubble burning, which is a major contributor to air pollution in the region.
The Supreme Court has ordered action against farmers who burn stubble, but the farmers say that burning crop residue benefits them and increases crop yields. They have warned the administration that they will take hostage any administrative representative who comes to rural areas to issue challans, and that they will launch a large-scale agitation if any farmer is charged during this time. The farmers recently protested at the Ambala Mini Secretariat to make their demands known.
Agriculture officials are educating farmers about the issue. But despite appeals from the administration, farmers in Ambala are burning crop residue as they prepare their fields for the next crop, saying they have no other option.
The Ambala Agriculture Department has issued challans to many farmers for burning stubble, and is investigating many cases. The farmers are protesting against this action, but the department says it is raising awareness among farmers and many are now complying with the orders.
Stubble burning in Punjab has increased significantly this year, with 656 farm fire incidents reported from September 15 to October 4, compared to 415 and 260 in the same period in 2022 and 2021, respectively.
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