In view of the dense smog in Haryana’s Fatehabad district, the local administration has directed all private and government schools to open one hour late for the next one week.
District Magistrate Hardeep Singh on Monday said that all schools would now open at 9 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. Mr. Singh has directed the officers of Education Department to ensure strict compliance of the orders.
The District Magistrate also issued notices to various village-level committees for failing to report instances of stubble burning in violation of orders issued under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
These committees, comprising patwari and village secretary among others, were constituted to put a check on incidents of stubble burning in villages.
“Members of the committees did not report the correct number of incidents of stubble burning, so considering it a major negligence, notices of violation of Section 144 have been issued to these panels,” said Mr. Singh.
Notices issued
The committees have been asked to reply in two days otherwise strict action will be taken against them, he added.
Mr. Singh has also asked officials to identify all the farmers who had burned paddy residue in their fields so that they could be given notices. He appealed to the farmers to not burn paddy residue as this matter was directly related to people's health.
He further expressed displeasure on the functioning of the officials concerned, adding that people were facing difficulty in breathing and suffering from respiratory problems.
Though stubble burning is reported across Haryana, districts of Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Karnal and Fatehabad are the major contributors such pollution.