Amid farm fires, smog envelops state
Mandi Gobindgarh remained most polluted with an Air Quality Index (AQI) level of 264. The AQI in Jalandhar was 207, followed by Ludhiana (204), all in poor bracket. The AQI was 199 in Patiala, 198 in Rupnagar, 192 in Amritsar, 178 in Khanna and 165 in Bathinda, all in moderate category. On Sunday, Amritsar (253) and Patiala (206) too were in poor category.
The state saw 418 fresh stubble burning cases on Monday, taking the tally to 7,029 cases this kharif season. At the same time, smog engulfed several parts of the state, affecting visibility on highways. Though the trend of stubble burning has receded this year across the state, the maximum number of fresh cases are being reported from southern Punjab districts where the paddy harvesting is still on.
On Monday, Sangrur recorded 103 farm fire incidents, the highest, followed by 72 cases in Ferozepur district. Muktsar saw 46 such cases while Moga and Mansa witnessed 40 and 37 cases, respectively.
The farm fire incidents in Doaba and Majha areas have come down considerably after having surged in the initial phase of paddy harvesting. Amritsar, which recorded 643 cases of stubble burning this season, reported zero cases on Monday. Both Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur districts witnessed eight and two farm fire cases, respectively, on the day. Hoshiarpur and Nawashahr districts of Doaba reported no such case while Jalandhar and Kapurthala recorded six and four cases on Monday. Pathankot has seen only two cases this kharif season.
Both Hoshiarpur and Nawashahr have managed to minimise farm fire cases this season, with only 21 and 26 cases, respectively, reported so far.
Punjab Pollution Control Board chairman Adarsh Pal Vig said the cases in most of the Punjab districts have come down as the paddy harvesting is at its fag end. “We are keeping tabs on every single case as the next few days are very crucial. The field officers have been directed to take stern action in their respective areas,” he said.
Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is dubbed as one of the reasons behind the alarming spike in air pollution in the national Capital in October and November. As the window for rabi crop wheat is very short after the paddy harvest, farmers set their fields on fire to quickly get rid of crop residue for sowing the next crop.
Mandi Gobindgarh still highly polluted
Even as the air quality level witnessed a slight improvement on Monday, thick smog engulfed several parts of the state. The visibility on the state and national highways remained affected during morning hours due to the smog blanket, causing inconvenience to commuters.
Mandi Gobindgarh remained most polluted with an Air Quality Index (AQI) level of 264. The AQI in Jalandhar was 207, followed by Ludhiana (204), all in poor bracket. The AQI was 199 in Patiala, 198 in Rupnagar, 192 in Amritsar, 178 in Khanna and 165 in Bathinda, all in moderate category. On Sunday, Amritsar (253) and Patiala (206) too were in poor category.
One of the PPCB officials said the stubble burning can’t be blamed for the poor air quality as there are multiple factors on the basis of which an AQI level of a particular area is measured. “Smog after Diwali is due to a high pollution level. Rain in the coming days can be very helpful in bring the pollution level down. The sudden dip in the temperature, especially in early morning hours, is also the key reason behind smog and poor air quality,” an official said.