A massive paddy stubble dump located along the Sangrur-Patiala road near Channo village in Sangrur district caught fire on Saturday night and continued to smoulder till the time of filing this report on Monday afternoon. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
Gurmeet Singh Bhattiwal, Senior Vice President, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Dakaunda), who lives in the Bhawanigarh area of Sangrur, a few kilometres from the site, said, “The stock is huge, as if it were collected from various farmers to be supplied to a biomass power plant. But the entire dump has caught fire, and it hasn’t been extinguished even after more than 40 hours. Paddy stubble, once ignited, is highly inflammable.”
Manjeet Kaur, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Bhawanigarh, said, “Yes, we were informed about the fire on Saturday night, and fire tenders were rushed immediately. I personally visited the spot on Sunday. The teams are continuously working and will not leave until the fire is completely extinguished.”
The SDM added, “The cause of the fire is not known so far. We even checked CCTV footage, but did not find any miscreant activity. The stock had been stored by a farmer who was to supply it to a biomass power plant. The initial call to the fire brigade also came from his side.”
Despite the unclear cause, the SDM has ordered the registration of a First Information Report.
Sources said most of the stock has now been burnt to ashes, and the fire is likely to be brought under control soon. The fire brigade department sought a JCB machine earlier to pull out tightly packed stubble stacks, but no operator agreed to work in the hazardous conditions, they added.
The incident comes amid heightened monitoring across Punjab following strict court orders against stubble burning, with local administrations under pressure to ensure compliance.










