With 179 cases, Punjab’s farm fire count crosses 10k mark
On Wednesday, Sangrur and Ferozepur districts reported 26 cases each, followed by 20 in Muktsar, 15 in Tarn Taran, 14 in Faridkot and 10 in Fazilka district.
Punjab’s total farm fire count crossed the 10,000 mark this kharif season. On Wednesday, the state reported 179 incidents taking the season’s total stubble-burning cases to 10,104.
On Wednesday, Sangrur and Ferozepur districts reported 26 cases each, followed by 20 in Muktsar, 15 in Tarn Taran, 14 in Faridkot and 10 in Fazilka district.
However, the state has seen an uptick in cases as the window for sowing wheat and rabi crops nearing. Farmers set their fields on fire to quickly get rid of crop residue for sowing the next crop.
In the last two weeks, the state has recorded 35% of the total incidents.
The state has seen as many as 3,523 farm fire incidents from November 10 onwards. On November 18, the state logged the highest single-day spike with 1,251 cases. On November 8, the state reported 730 farm fire incidents, which was the highest in a day this season till Monday.
However, the number of cases has come down by almost 73% compared to last year, in which as many as 36,663 cases were reported.
Paddy straw burning in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh is considered one of the main reasons behind the alarming spike in air pollution in the northern region in October and November.
The state recorded a significant reduction of 26.55% in stubble burning cases in 2023 than 2022 when it reported 49,992 farm fire cases. The cases dropped by 29.84% in 2022 as compared to 2021 when 71,159 such cases were recorded. In 2020, Punjab had recorded 76,929 cases of stubble fires.
AQI remains poor
As per the data of the central pollution control board (CPCB), Amritsar recorded the worst air quality in the state at 250, which falls in the ‘poor’ category, followed by 249 in Jalandhar, 246 in Ludhiana, 237 in Mandi Gobindgarh, 217 in Patiala. Khanna recorded air quality in moderate category with an AQI of 154, followed by 122 in Bathinda and 119 in Rupnagar.
