Day after season’s highest spike in farm fires, Punjab acts against violators

Bathinda: A day after Punjab recorded its highest single-day farm fire count this season, the official data portal was down on Tuesday. The Indian Agricultural Research Institute's CREAMS webpage was not functioning.On Monday, Punjab reported 225 farm fire cases. This was the season's highest single-day count.Even as data was unavailable on Tuesday, the Punjab govt began action. By Monday evening, three FIRs had been registered. All were in Jalandhar district. Authorities made 16 red entries in land records. Environmental compensation of Rs 1.10 lakh was imposed in 20 cases.Till Monday evening, Punjab had reported 494 farm fire incidents this season. Bathinda (58) and Hoshiarpur (57) recorded the highest numbers. Cases were reported from 22 of 23 districts. Only Roopnagar reported none.In Barnala, a farmer from Pandher village was booked for burning stubble on one acre. Deputy commissioner Harpreet Singh said an FIR was registered under directions of the Commission for Air Quality Management. A fine of Rs 5,000 was imposed under Air Quality Management Rules, 2023.Officials said action will continue during the harvest season.