Paddy stubble burning peaks in Punjab, Haryana on Diwali
Tarn Taran topped the districts in Punjab with 160 farm fires followed by 97 incidents reported in Amritsar on Diwali. The early variety of paddy has been harvested in both border districts and they have been seeing the maximum number of farm fires in the state so far hid kharif season
Punjab and Haryana witnessed the highest number of stubble burning cases of the kharif harvest season so far on Diwali night.
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Punjab recorded 1,019 incidents of crop residue burning, while neighbouring Haryana reported 250 cases, a report of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute said on Tuesday.
Tarn Taran topped the districts in Punjab with 160 farm fires followed by 97 incidents reported in Amritsar on Diwali. The early variety of paddy has been harvested in both border districts and they have been seeing the maximum number of farm fires in the state so far. While Tarn Taran now tops the state with 1,194 fire incidents this year, Amritsar has reported 992 farm fire incidents so far.
Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) chairman Adarshpal Vig said that the incidents have seen a rise but remain half of what they were during this period in previous years. Though Vig attributed the decline to collective efforts of government departments to convince farmers to opt for in-situ and ex-situ management of crop residue, it may be mentioned that harvest has been delayed in the rest of Punjab due to the recent rains and incidents of farm fires are likely to pick up in the next 10 days as the sowing window for wheat becomes shorter.
According to the PPCB chairman, Ludhiana, Moga, Patiala, Bathinda and Ferozepur are among the “most notorious districts” according to figures of farm fires in 2020 and 2021. Chief minister Bhagwant Mann’s home district Sangrur was the worst offender in 2020 with 9,705 farm fires, while in 2021, it witnessed 8,006 cases.
Bharti Kisan Union, Kadian, leader Harmeet Singh Kadian said stubble burning would pick up in the coming days. “Due to the delay due to rain in the paddy cropping season, farmers are left with a shorter window to prepare their field for the rabi crops. This will lead to a rise in residue-burning incidents in the coming days,” said Kadian.
He said both the central and the state governments have backtracked from their promise of providing cash incentives for stubble management to small and marginal farmers. He maintained that the union will protest any police action against farmers burning stubble.
Total farm fires in Punjab till October 24
2022: 5,617
2021: 6,058
2020: 14,805
Kharif season farm fire incidents in Punjab:
2016: 81,042
2017: 45,384
2018: 50,590
2019: 55,210
2020: 76,590
2021: 71,304
2022: 5,617 so far