There was a 35 percent reduction in the stubble burning incidents in the Fazilka district this year. Earlier, Fazilka was among the districts with the highest number of stubble-burning cases but this year 1854 cases of farm fire were reported as compared to 2856 cases of the previous year.

Among these, 197 cases are related to 44 villages of Guruharsahai which falls under the Agriculture Department of Ferozepur district but owes to Revenue district Fazilka.

Deputy Commissioner Dr. Senu Duggal said it was a big challenge as the district sans any large industry based on consumption of stubble, but the district administration achieved this goal by working as a team and establishing direct contact with the farmers. She appealed to the entrepreneurs to come forward to set up straw-based industries in the district as there is a lot of potential in the district. 

With an area of 1.01 lakh hectares under paddy and basmati, the district produced 5.87 lakh tonnes of Crop Residue. The district administration coordinated well with the industry outside the district and some small units in the district, to send them 162200 MT of Paddy Stubble under ex-situ techniques. 

The DC said that in order to reduce the cases of stubble burning in the district, the administration had planned its IEC activities since September and every method was used to stop farmers from burning stubble. Paddy stubble was sent to Cattle Ponds (Gaushala) for use as animal fodder as well as to manage stubble. Approximately 11000 quintals of paddy stubble collected in the Gaushalas of the district. 

In September 289 and in October 285 farmer training and awareness camps were organized at the village level. The DC also thanked the media for supporting this awareness campaign.