After the Supreme Court pulled up Haryana government for not tackling the issue of stubble burning, the state police have swung into action inviting heavy criticism from the opposition.
"Around 50 cases of stubble burning have been identified so far and five FIRs have been registered in the matter here. Incidents of stubble burning were around 150 at the same time last year," Deputy Director (Agriculture) Girish Nagpal told on Thursday.
He said that so far Rs 1,30,000 have been recovered in fines for stubble burning.
"The state government is also spreading awareness about the matter and making arrangements so farmers can turn paddy into a source of income," Nagpal said.
Haryana Health Minister l Vij also said that the state government has made several attempts to reduce stubble burning and that the number of incidents has come down from last year.
"More efforts are being made to put an end to the practice of stubble burning," Vij added.
Meanwhile, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Singh Chautala has slammed the state government and administration for taking action against the farmers instead of helping them.
"This is absolutely wrong. Stubble burning contributes to merely 5 to 7 per cent of the pollution in NCR. Who is responsible for the rest? Where are the FIR against the people who cause the rest of the pollution?" he said.
He said that people just want to blame the farmers instead of making arrangements so that they don't have to burn paddy.
( With inputs from ANI )