Haryana is set to deploy a dedicated Parali Protection Force at district and block levels to stamp out paddy stubble burning across the state, as authorities intensify enforcement ahead of the 2024 harvesting season. The force will operate alongside drone surveillance and late-evening patrolling, while farmers are being offered an incentive of ₹1,200 per acre to adopt crop-residue management alternatives.

Action Plan Reviewed at Senior Level

Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi on Thursday chaired a review of the state's action plan for eliminating stubble burning and ensuring compliance with directions issued by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). The meeting reinforced the government's intent to treat this harvesting season as a zero-tolerance window on farm fires.

The Parali Protection Force will comprise police personnel, Agriculture Department officials, administrative officers, nodal and cluster officers, and representatives from other stakeholder departments. It will closely monitor farm-fire incidents and initiate action against violators in real time.

Targeting Night-Time Burning and Satellite Evasion

Additional Chief Secretary (Agriculture) Vijayendra Kumar flagged a specific enforcement gap: some farmers have reportedly been burning paddy residue after dark to evade satellite-based detection of farm fires. To counter this, the action plan calls for intensified patrolling during late evening hours.

Every verified case of stubble burning will attract a three-pronged response — registration of a First Information Report (FIR), a challan, and a 'red entry' in the farmer's land record. Environmental compensation charges will also be imposed and recovered from violators, according to officials.

Incentives and Machinery Deployment

Alongside enforcement, the government is rolling out farmer-facing incentives. In addition to the ₹1,200 per acre payment for optimal use of crop-residue management machinery, the state is offering subsidies on the purchase of balers, rakers, and related equipment.

Machines will be moved between districts in alignment with paddy harvesting schedules. Harvesting begins in Yamunanagar, Ambala, Karnal and Kurukshetra from September and advances to Sirsa, Fatehabad, Hisar and Jind during the last week of October. Officials have been asked to coordinate with baler owners in neighbouring states and adjoining Haryana districts to ensure seamless machinery movement.

Field Monitoring: 8,134 Nodal Officers Appointed

Director (Agriculture) Amit Khatri confirmed that 8,134 village-level nodal officers have been appointed for ground-level monitoring. Haryana has approximately 6,21,285 registered paddy farmers spread across 5,600 villages, covering around 34.1 lakh acres. Of these, 6,04,314 farmers have already been covered by nodal officers.

Each nodal officer can be tagged to a maximum of 100 farmers, with the limit reduced to 50 in designated hotspot villages. Officers are required to use a mobile application to report active fire locations and log whether farmers are managing crop residue through in-situ, ex-situ, or fodder-based methods.

Drone Surveillance via DRIISHYA

In line with CAQM directives, Haryana is in the process of deploying drones in association with DRIISHYA for aerial monitoring of stubble-burning incidents. Deputy Commissioners will finalise in advance the specific villages and locations earmarked for drone coverage, ensuring systematic aerial oversight across the most fire-prone zones.

With harvesting already beginning in parts of the state, the next few weeks will test whether the multi-layered enforcement and incentive framework translates into a measurable reduction in farm-fire counts — numbers that directly bear on air quality across the Delhi-NCR region and beyond.