Punjab Govt all set to control stubble burning

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Ludhiana (Punjab) [India], September 22 (ANI): The Punjab government has taken innovative steps to tackle stubble burning which causes air pollution.

Speaking to ANI, Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana, Varinder Sharma, said, "The state government has distributed BF machines free of cost to the farmers so that they do not have to burn crop residue. Last year we had distributed more than 4,000 machines with 50 per cent subsidy to the farmers."

"If a farmer sets the stubble on fire, then we have imposed section 144 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), under which legal action will be taken, but we believe that the farmer will cooperate with the government and the public to prevent severe air pollution, he added.

Malkit Singh, a farmer, said, "We burn stubble in our fields because of the labour shortage and the high cost of transportation of the stubble. If the government will provide us with the machines, we will not burn our stubble."

Speaking on the strict action taken by the state government on setting fire to stubble, Jasmeet Singh, a farmer said, "If we will not receive any support from the government then we are left with no option but to burn stubble." (ANI)