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Farm fires near 13,000 in Punjab, AQI deteriorates
According to the Ludhiana-based Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), Sangrur recorded maximum 603 cases in the past two days, followed by 402 in Ferozepur, 302 in Tarn Taran, 226 in Mansa, 223 in Bathinda, 187 in Patiala, 144 in Kapurthala and 134 in Jalandhar
Punjab reported 3,219 cases of stubble burning in the past two days, taking the total incidents to 12,813 cases so far.
The state recorded 1,668 cases on Thursday and 1,551 cases on Friday.
According to the Ludhiana-based Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), Sangrur recorded maximum 603 cases in the past two days, followed by 402 in Ferozepur, 302 in Tarn Taran, 226 in Mansa, 223 in Bathinda, 187 in Patiala, 144 in Kapurthala and 134 in Jalandhar.
Due to some technical snag at the PRSC, data was not released on November 2.
The state saw 2,512 and 2,666 farm fires on November 3 in 2021 and 2022 respectively. The total cases reported in the state during the corresponding period till November 3 in 2022 and 2021 were 24,146 and 20,433 respectively.
Punjab pollution control board chairman Adarshpal Vig said the cases have reduced as compared to the last years as there is nearly 50% drop in fire incidents as compared to 2022.
Last year, the state recorded 49,922 fire incidents between September 15 and November 30, which was 29.84% lesser than the fire incidents reported in 2021 during the same period of the year. In 2021, 71,159 stubble fire incidents were reported, while it was 76,929 in 2020.
“The coming 10-12 days are going to be very crucial as nearly 25-30% harvesting is yet to be done. We are closely monitoring the situation and the field teams are focusing to keep a tab on the cases,” he said. He added that farmers are showing great response to ex situ management of paddy straw.
The state agriculture department is expecting production of nearly 186 lakh tonnes of paddy straw from the paddy cultivated in nearly 31.93 lakh hectare of the area.
Last year, 50% of the stubble was managed through in-situ management, while only 5% (9.5 lakh tonnes of stubble) was managed through ex-situ measures.
Heavy smog engulfs parts of state
The air quality has worsened in the state to ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ categories in several areas. A number of people complained of respiratory problems and poor visibility due to smog.
Bathinda remained most polluted with air quality index (AQI) of 349, which falls under ‘very poor’ category. AQI in Mandi Gobindgarh was 274, followed by 272 in Jalandhar, 248 in Khanna, 241 in Patiala and Amritsar, 230 in Ludhiana and 210 in Rupnagar, all under ‘poor’ category.
