With the harvest, fires on agricultural lands of Dedoplistskaro municipality take place year after year, it is live issue. On August 7 we ourselves witnessed the relentless fires of agricultural waste burning widely across the Shiraki Valley.
“It is important to note, that it is still common practice for farmers to burn agricultural waste, rather than to properly dispose it, which causes damage to the soil, threatens biodiversity and destroys windbreak”.
All this should be regulated by the principles of waste management and the main postulate of these processes should be done without any threat to both environment and human.
Members of SABUKO took photographs of the burnt area and called Emergency about the field and windbreaks fires. After, we called again, informed and indicated the areas where the windbreaks were burning (it is noteworthy, that the fire was visible across all the area for everyone). The group of firefighters refused to stop the fire due to the land being private area and they said they do not have the “right” to take any actions there. We have explained, even if they “do not have the right” to do so on a private land, then there was a danger of destructions of the windbreaks, which are state property, however they again refused to liquidate the ongoing disaster.
The responsibility should be taken by the Environmental Supervision Department. However, the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia has not been able to provide accurate information about open burning of waste and the authority of the Emergency in such situations.
The above-mentioned departments accuse different departments and entrust the process of regulation and liquidation between agencies – as a result, one can’t have a proper understanding of the actions to be hold.
Uncontrolled burning on farms has been a major cause of bushfires spreading to destroy vast areas of forests, plantations and other properties across the globe.
Environmentalists claim, that burning results in extensive impacts both on and off farm, e.g., losses in soil nutrients, soil organic matter, production and productivity, biodiversity, air and water quality, and therewith human and animal health. One example of toxic compound directly affecting human health from biomass burning is dioxin, which is produced by biomass burning in low temperature.
Predatory birds are dependent on agricultural lands, open areas are the main hunting places, and the open burning of agricultural waste will not only bother them, but will destroy their “victims” as well.
Unfortunately, both Municipality and Ministry can’t deal with this problem so far.
