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Farm fire hotspot districts lack facility to check air quality
Districts like Tarn Taran, Sangrur, Gurdaspur and Kapurthala may be reporting a high number of paddy stubble-burning cases this season but these hotspots skip air quality concerns.
Districts like Tarn Taran, Sangrur, Gurdaspur and Kapurthala may be reporting a high number of paddy stubble-burning cases this season but these hotspots skip air quality concerns.
Experts blame the Punjab authorities for having fewer continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) across the state and the adverse impact of residue burning could become part of serious public discourse.
They say in the absence of official data on record, public policy to improve the air quality index (AQI) gets a backseat.
As per the official information, Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has installed gadgets in only six districts and there is no official mechanism for constant monitoring or analysis of air quality in 17 other districts.
Ludhiana district has the maximum three monitoring stations at Khanna, Mandi Gobindgarh and Ludhiana city and one each in Bathinda, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Patiala and Rupnagar. According to Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) data, of the 12,112 incidents of paddy stubble burning till Saturday, Tarn Taran is leading with 2,188 cases of farm fires.
Similarly, Sangrur has reported 1,046, the fourth highest this season so far while Kapurthala has witnessed 786 and Gurdaspur at 777 and Ferozepur at 730 cases of stubble burning.
Analysis of PRSC data says since 2016, Sangrur, the home district of chief minister Bhagwant Mann, remained the single largest contributor to the farm fire cases.
In 2021, 8,006 cases of stubble burning were reported from Sangrur while in 2020 the figure was 9,706, the highest ever from a district to date.
Moga, Mansa and Barnala are also among the high farm fire rate districts but these places fail to get the attention of the policymakers regarding the poor air quality.
But these districts have no facility to check the AQI.
PPCB chairperson Adarsh Pal Vig said having CAAQMS at each district is not required as stubble burning lasts only for 6-8 weeks and the predominantly agricultural districts really do not need constant monitoring of air quality.
Harminder Pal Singh, professor in the Department of Environment Studies at Panjab University, differs while adding that Punjab indeed needs an extensive network of monitoring stations for greater transparency on air quality.
Besides initiating various measures to pursue farmers to stop farm fires, the authorities are needed to focus on improving the AQI.
“We must accept that burning of crop residue is an environmental and health hazard for Punjab. There should be round-the-clock monitoring of pollution levels as the adverse impact of the burning of organic waste can be felt by breathing and travelling across the state during the harvesting period. The long-term policy can be formed only if the government has a database to highlight the seriousness of an issue,” said the professor.
Another expert VK Garg, professor of environmental science and technology at Bathinda-based Central University of Punjab (CUP), said Punjab should follow the Haryana model of AQI monitoring.
“Punjab’s neighbouring state has 23 CAAQMS in all 22 districts and it is considered to be the first state with a vast network of monitoring stations. Real-time data on air quality even in the small towns or districts would be a key to understanding the immediate status of air quality and make stakeholders sensitise about the need to adopt green initiatives to make the environment safer,” he added.
