Stubble Fires Fall From 500 to 16 a Night, Glamocic Says
The caretaker agriculture minister says satellites spotted just 16 small hotspots overnight, while smoke-related crashes involved 26 vehicles and left 16 people injured.
Caretaker Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Dragan Glamocic said on Saturday, October 10, that all fires caused by stubble burning in recent days are under control. Satellite monitoring recorded about 500 hotspots in a single night early this month, and only 16 last night.
Glamocic told reporters at the Wine Vision of the Open Balkan fair, while urging citizens to stay careful. This is how he described the situation:
“As for the fires, I can really share some good news today. Since the fires started at the beginning of this month, satellites registered around 500 hotspots every night, and then in recent days we saw a slow decline, so that last night there were only 16 hotspots, and small ones. I want to say that the measures the state took have allowed our farmers to finally understand how dangerous this can be for people, for traffic and for everything else.”
We have previously reported on individual fires, including the one in Vidova near Cacak. This is the first overall tally the minister has given.
How many accidents did the smoke cause?
Traffic accidents linked to smoke from burning crop residue in recent days involved 26 vehicles and left 16 people injured, one of them in critical condition. The figures come from the Ministry of Agriculture, in a statement about the operation carried out after multiple fires on farmland.
Five satellites were used to monitor conditions on the ground. Based on their data, the ministry compiled lists of affected plots by municipality and cadastral municipality, which allowed inspectors to go to the field with specific targets.
What is known about the people caught burning?
In a coordinated operation by agricultural inspectors and the Interior Ministry (MUP) on October 5, six people were caught in the act of burning crop residue. Four were detained at the time, and misdemeanor complaints were filed against two. Complaints against the other four will follow.
Glamocic said that all six suspects admitted to burning crop residue. Earlier reports stated that four of the six had confessed, so the number differs depending on whose account is used. Here, six is given according to the minister’s statement today.
Polygraph examinations began two days ago. It was reported earlier that another 70 people had been called in for questioning. Glamocic said:
“Several of them have already failed the polygraph. So the process continues. Dozens of them will be put, and in some way punished, perhaps prosecuted before a court. Some will be placed in passive status.”
What does passive status mean for a farm holding?
Where the owner or user of a plot did not report the fire to the police or firefighters, proceedings have been started to place the farm holding in passive status. The status has not yet been formally assigned.
If it is, the holding cannot apply for subsidies or lease state-owned farmland for at least a year. Depending on the severity of the offense, the measure can last up to three years.
How will next year’s harvest be monitored?
Glamocic added that local governments have promised to monitor the harvest with drones next year, and for 20 days after it ends. The aim, as he put it, is the following:
“So that all harvest residue is in the soil, and not outside of it.”
Legally prescribed procedures have been launched for the plots where a fire was confirmed, and the ministry began identifying the burned plots, their owners and users as soon as the fires started.
