Punjab stubble-burning: Three-fold jump recorded in state in 9 days

A data by Ludhiana-based Punjab Remote Sensing Centre reveals that a total of 436 stubble-burning cases have been recorded in just one day

Representational Image (Credits: ANI)

Chandigarh: Punjab has reported nearly three-fold jump in farm fire incidents in the last nine days, with total number of such cases reaching 2,625 so far this season. From September 15 till October 10 this year, the state had witnessed 718 stubble burning incidents. According to data from the Ludhiana-based Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, the state recorded 436 farm fire cases on Wednesday. From September 15 till October 19, a total of 2,625 farm fire incidents have been recorded, as per the data.

The situation looks better this year compared to farm fire incidents in the last two years as the state till October 19 had reported 7,115 and 2,942 such incidents in 2020 and 2021, respectively. On October 19 in 2020 and 2021, the state had registered 698 and 496 incidents of stubble burning, respectively, as per the data.

On Wednesday, maximum stubble burning incidents were recorded in Tarn Taran (124), followed by Amritsar (82), Gurdaspur (64), and Patiala (27), among other districts, as per the data. The farm fires continued despite the state government assuring more crop residue management machines and launching massive awareness programmes against stubble burning.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday in Ludhiana exhorted farmers to refrain from burning paddy straw as it poses a serious threat to human life through air pollution. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua asked the senior officials of the state to conduct regular inspections in all the districts to take stock of the ground situation of stubble fire incidents.

In a statement, Janjua said due to incidents of stubble burning, Punjab has to face embarrassment at the national level as the Supreme Court, National Air Quality Commission and National Green Tribunal have also expressed displeasure over stubble burning incidents in the state. He said it is very crucial to assess the ground situation of stubble burning incidents, and therefore, the senior officers concerned must visit the respective districts for random checking.

The chief secretary directed the deputy commissioners that farmers who do not burn stubble should be given special honour at the district level, aiming to encourage other farmers as well. He also said more farmers should be sensitised about not burning stubble by making announcements from religious places in villages and through awareness camps and using other mediums. Janjua noted that so far this season, compared to the previous years, there has been a significant reduction in the cases of stubble burning and efforts should be continued to reduce it further.

Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is one of the reasons behind the alarming spike in air pollution levels in the National Capital Region in October and November. As the window for rabi crop wheat is very short after paddy harvest, farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue. Punjab generates around 180 lakh tonne of paddy straw annually. The state recorded 71,304 stubble burning incidents in 2021, 76,590 in 2020, 55,210 in 2019 and 50,590 in 2018, with many districts including Sangrur, Mansa, Bathinda and Amritsar witnessing large number of such cases.