This story is from October 31, 2019

Teen girl leads anti-stubble campaign in Sangrur village

Teen girl leads anti-stubble campaign in Sangrur village
Photos by Anu Albert
Kanoi (Sangrur): At 17, Amandeep Kaur isn’t just a college student pursuing higher studies, but she is a crusader against stubble burning.
With her friendly, open smile and generous laugh, the teenager exudes youthful energy and is an icon of the anti-stubble campaign. Amandeep, who struggled with severe respiratory problems in childhood, convinced her father to stop setting paddy residue on fire and since last two years has been sowing 45 acres of land cultivated by her father, herself using Happy Seeder.
“When I was around six years old, I developed respiratory problems which got aggravated during the paddy harvest season when the stubble was set on fire.
My father, Harmilap Singh, who owns 20 acres of land and cultivates 25 acres of leased land, immediately gave up the practise,” explains Amandeep, standing in her fields after sowing wheat on 2.5 acres using the Happy Seeder, on Wednesday.
“As I grew up, I learnt more about the ill-effects of burning stubble and after completing high school, I started by bachelor’s degree in agriculture at Patiala’s Khalsa College. I started using Happy Seeder about two years ago after I learnt how to steer a tractor and since then I have been tilling the entire land cultivated by my father. It is only when I am not well that my father tills the land,” she adds.
Beaming with confidence, she says use of alternate means has enhanced fertility of soil and her family was now using 60-70% lesser amount of fertilisers. Her zeal to use alternate methods stands apart in the village and has encouraged many to give up the practice of clearing farms with fires.

Village sarpanch Gurtej Singh said for the last two years he had been seeing Amandeep tilling her land and she has inspired at least 80% families in the village to give up stubble burning. “We have around 600 families in the village and there are a few who are still setting the crop residue on fire. Earlier, there were many. But the improvement in soil health and decrease in fertiliser usage has encouraged others to take up alternate means to deal with stubble,” he said, adding that the village now had 12 Happy Seeders, including two provided by the agricultural department.
“Many other farmers in the village have started approaching us and after we are done sowing our lands, we take the Happy Seeder and help them. At times, they even borrow the machine and use it with their own tractors as well,” says Harmilap Singh, who is proud of his daughter’s crusade.
BOX: 3,135 cases of farm fires, AQI deteriorates
Data collected by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre at Ludhiana showed that after a drop of almost 50% in the number of stubble burning cases on Tuesday, the cases registered a spike on Wednesday as a total of 3,135 cases of farm fires were recorded across the state.
With this, the ambient air quality index (AQI) also deteriorated to poor and very poor categories at eight continuous ambient air quality monitoring station (CAAQMS). On Wednesday, AQI at Bhatinda was 340 µgm/m3, Jalandhar 264 µgm/m3, Khanna 270 µgm/m3, Ludhiana 280 µgm/m3, Mandi Gobindgarh 289 µgm/m3, Patiala 281 µgm/m3, and Rupnagar 258 µgm/m3. The data collected from the station near Golden Temple in Amritsar was not sufficient to compute AQI.
STUBBLE FIRES
District Fires Till Date
Tarn Taran 2,520
Ferozepur 2,269
Sangrur 2,157
Patiala 1,931
Gurdaspur 1,139
Bathinda 1,109
Amritsar 1,047
Mansa 1,044
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