Rains douse farm fires, expect negligible cases in 2-3 days: Officials

Official sources in the state agriculture department said after widespread rain on Monday, any burning incident is highly unlikely in Punjab

Following rain across Punjab, the air quality index (AQI) in most parts of the state on Monday remained between ‘good’ to ‘satisfactory’ category.

A farmer at the Bhagtanwala grain market in Amritsar on Monday. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)

Ludhiana-based Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) did not release data on paddy stubble burning on Monday.

Official sources in the state agriculture department said after widespread rain on Monday, any burning incident is highly unlikely in Punjab.

“There may be negligible farm fires in the coming two-three days,” he said.

As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the AQI at continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) in Khanna and Mandi Gobindgarh was at a scale of 49, which falls under the ‘good’ category indicating a ‘minimal’ impact on health.

The AQI at five monitoring stations — Bathinda, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala — was recorded as ‘satisfactory’.

Rupnagar was the only district where CAAQMS was ‘moderate’ with AQI 149.