The Punjab Police has registered 12 first information reports against farmers for stubble burning since September 18, the Hindustan Times reported on Sunday.

The state has reported 48 cases of crop residue burning since monitoring began on September 15, according to data from the Punjab Pollution Control Board. Of the 12 FIRs, 11 were filed in Amritsar.

The police began filing the cases from Thursday onwards. No arrests have been made so far.

The action came after the Supreme Court said on September 17 that strict punishment, including arrests, may have to be imposed to deter farmers from stubble burning. The court said that although farmers are important for the country, it does not justify allowing stubble burning to continue unchecked.

“Why don’t you think of some penalty provisions? If some people are behind bars, it will send the correct message,” the bench had told the counsel for the Punjab government. “Why don’t you think of some penalty provisions for the agriculturists?”

Many farmers resort to the mass burning of unwanted crop debris (known as stubble) to clear their fields after the harvest to prepare for the next sowing season.

The burning of stubble in the vast fields in these states, along with the falling temperatures and decreased wind speeds, contributes to air pollution in North India.

The cases filed over the past few days in Punjab have been lodged under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which pertains to disobeying orders by a public servant, the Hindustan Times reported.

Apart from the FIRs, the state government has marked 13 ‘red entries’ in the land records of violators. A ‘red entry’ prohibits affected farmers from selling or mortgaging their land, or accessing farm loans.

Environmental compensation fines amounting to Rs 1.10 lakh in 24 cases have been levied.

The state government has also formed a protection force comprising about 8,000 personnel and deployed across 11,624 villages to verify stubble burning incidents and submit daily reports, the Hindustan Times reported.

Amritsar has seen 32 incidents of stubble burning so far, the Punjab Pollution Control Board data stated. Patiala has reported seven cases.

Farmer leaders have criticised the state government’s actions to curb stubble farming.

“We strongly condemn FIRs and red entries against the farmers,” the newspaper quoted Jagmohan Singh, general secretary of Bhartiya Kisan Union Dakonda, as saying. “The Punjab government should first ensure financial support to farmers before registering cases or marking their land records.”

Last year, 5,797 cases had been filed in the state out of the 10,909 stubble burning incidents recorded.

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