A patwari (revenue official) was held hostage by farmers at Jeewan Wala village in Punjab's Faridkot district when he went there to control stubble burning and was released after over 24 hours on Friday. The revenue official was released by farmers only after receiving a written assurance from the administration of no challan over the burning of their stubble, ANI reported.
Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is one of the major reasons behind the alarming spike in the air pollution levels in the national capital in October-November. Farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue before cultivating wheat and vegetables.
The incident happened when the patwari, Sukhdeep Singh, went to the village to inspect a report of stubble burning on Thursday afternoon.
After he was taken hostage, the Kalnab Tehsildar and SDM Kotkapura reached the spot and tried to talk to the farmers, ANI reported. However, they failed to convince the farmers to let go of the official.
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Anil Kumar, Tehsildar, Faridkot, told ANI, "Our nodal officer gave a report of stubble burning. Patwari had come here to find that out. The villagers came to know about this and took him hostage."
A farmer said that the SDM had promised that machines would be provided but nothing was done. "We burn stubble as there is no other option," the farmer said.
The development comes after farmers in Punjab's Bathinda district, earlier this week, expressed their dissatisfaction over Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led government's failure to find an alternative to the stubble-burning problem. They hreatened to hold hostage any officials coming to stop them from burning the stubble, ANI reported.
Earlier in the day, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal, in a joint press conference with Mann, took responsibility for the stubble burning in Punjab, saying it was wrong to blame farmers for it.
"Pollution is not just Delhi's but entire Northern India’s problem. The Centre has to come forward and take specific steps so that entire North India can be relieved from pollution. Air pollution is a North India problem. AAP, the Delhi government or the Punjab government are not solely responsible. Now is not the time for the blame game. There should not be politics over such a sensitive issue. I admit there is stubble burning in Punjab," Kejriwal said.
According to the latest Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) data, the number of paddy stubble burning incidents in Punjab rose 12.59 per cent year-on-year to 26,583 in the last 50 days, PTI reported.
When compared to Punjab, the number of paddy stubble burning events in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi remained lower, the report said.