Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh): As part of a comprehensive action plan to curb incidents of burning crop residue or narwai in Gwalior, the district administration has launched an awareness campaign to educate farmers about how the practice hampers soil fertility and the environment.
The awareness campaign started on March 1 and will continue till June 15. Under the campaign, seminars, village meetings, rallies, and demonstrations of agricultural machinery will be organised for farmers.
District collector Ruchika Chauhan has appealed to farmers to adopt scientific management of crop residue instead of burning it.
To ensure effective monitoring, committees have been formed at both district and tehsil levels, and villages have been categorized into red, orange, yellow, and blue zones based on past incidents of residue burning. The administration has also made it mandatory for all combine harvesters to use straw management systems (SMS) or straw reapers.
Crop residue burning will be monitored through satellite surveillance, and farmers found violating the rules may face penalties ranging from Rs 2,500 to Rs 15,000. Villages that record zero incidents of residue burning will be honored by the district administration.
