Despite Government Warning, Over 1L Cases Of Fire & Crop Burning In State

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The government's warning of strict action against stubble burning seems to have had no effect. According to official figures, 1,07,690 cases of fire and crop burning were recorded in the rabi season. Now, the government is set to have zero count of stubble burning in the kharif season.

A report by the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board says that of the ten divisions of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal has topped the chart with 24,171 cases of fire and crop burning.

The Bhopal division comprises five districts — Bhopal, Raisen, Rajgarh, Sehore, and Vidisha. Among these, Vidisha reported the highest at 7,299 cases, followed by 7,223 in Raisen, 5,925 in Sehore, 2,424 in Bhopal district, and 1,300 in Rajgarh.

The Jabalpur division recorded 15,984 fire and crop burning cases. It has eight districts — Balaghat, Chhindwara, Dindori, Jabalpur, Katni, Mandla, Narsinghpur, and Seoni. Of them, Seoni reported the maximum, 3,258 fire and crop burning counts. Then, Chhindwara recorded 2,865 cases, followed by 2,063 in Balaghat, 1,824 in Dindori, 1,523 in Jabalpur, 1,691 in Katni, 1,701 in Mandla, and 1,059 in Narsinghpur.

Among the remaining divisions, Chambal recorded 4,067 cases, Gwalior reported 13,786, Hoshangabad had 6,067, and the Indore division had 8,018 cases. Meanwhile, Rewa recorded 6,432 cases, Sagar logged 14,943 cases, Shahdol had 3,784 cases, and the Ujjain division marked 10,438 cases.

NASA satellite to map fire, crop burning

For the first time, the government took the help of a NASA satellite to map the fire and crop burning counts in the state. The findings suggest the need for stricter measures to check stubble-burning cases to prevent air pollution.

‘Focus on kharif season now’

Principal Secretary, Environment Department, Navneet Kothari, said the state government has decided to have zero stubble burning in the kharif season, especially in the paddy growing areas.

Action against errant farmers

When stubble burning cases were surging during the rabi season, the state government decided to take stern action against farmers involved in stubble burning by lodging cases againstthem. It has now decided to deprive farmers of certain government schemes.