DC Sachin Gupta orders a District-Level Committee to Prevent Stubble Burning

Rohtak, September 23, 2025: Deputy Commissioner Sachin Gupta has ordered a District-Level Planning and Monitoring Committee to prevent stubble burning. The Additional Deputy Commissioner-cum-CEO Zila Parishad will chair the committee, which will prepare and implement comprehensive measures for prevention and control.

The committee will coordinate with Agriculture, Panchayati Raj, Police, Industry, and CSR partners to ensure availability of Happy Seeders, Super SMS, Balers, Mulchers, and other machinery. It will also identify storage sites in Panchayat/community land and monitor industrial use of stubble. Weekly review meetings will be held, and compliance reports will be submitted to the DC and the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM).

At the sub-divisional level, committees under SDMs have also been formed to monitor cutting and residue management, hold Gram Sabhas, and administer pledges against stubble burning. Police and agriculture staff will patrol hotspot villages till late evening. A “Parali Protection Force” comprising police, revenue, agriculture, and panchayat officials will enforce orders. Farmers can report incidents on WhatsApp helplines issued by SDMs.

The Deputy Commissioner stressed that stubble must not be treated as waste but as a valuable resource. The district committee will encourage multiple stakeholder collaborations—linking farmers, industries, CSR partners, and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) - to convert stubble into income-generating products. This includes the establishment of units for particle board, packaging material, biodegradable items, pellets, briquettes for thermal power plants and brick kilns, and biochar for soil health improvement. Farmers will also be linked with dairies, gaushalas, and feed mills for supplying straw as fodder. Such initiatives, he said, will not only check burning but also enhance rural incomes and create local employment opportunities.

The DC also directed awareness drives at village level, crop diversification towards maize, pulses, and millets, and industrial use of stubble in particle board, packaging, paper, sanitary napkins, and biodegradable products. Daily fire data from satellites will be verified by SDMs and reported to the ADC, who will submit an integrated monthly report to the DC.