32 farm fires in Punjab, lowest in 10 days

Punjab reported 32 active cases of paddy stubble-burning, the lowest in 10 days. Pollution levels remained "moderate" at monitoring stations.

Punjab on Saturday reported 32 active cases of paddy stubble-burning—the lowest in the agrarian northern state in the past 10 days.

According to PRSC data, the number of fires till October 7 was only 392 in 2021 while it was 692 in 2022. (HT Archive)

The pollution levels remained in the “moderate” category at seven out of eight monitoring stations across Punjab. Satellite imageries of the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) showed that out of 23 districts, fires were noticed in only seven. According to the data, a total of 877 active fires were reported till October 7 this year.

On Saturday, fourteen incidents of paddy stubble burning were detected in Amritsar while Kapurthala and Tarn Taran reported four farm fires each and three incidents were reported from Patiala.

According to PRSC data, the number of fires till October 7 was only 392 in 2021 while it was 692 in 2022. Amritsar has recorded the most farm fires—537 cases—this year so far followed by Tarn Taran which recorded 120 fires.

Amritsar’s AQI was recorded as “satisfactory” at 70 on Saturday. Ludhiana’s AQI was recorded the worst at 179 followed by Rupnagar at 164 (both “moderate”).

HT reported on October 5 that paddy harvesting, which began roughly a fortnight ago, has resulted in a surge in cases of stubble burning—rising 30% between September 15 to October 4, compared to the corresponding period last year—according to centralised data from the agriculture ministry-backed Indian Institute of Agricultural Research (IIAR).

According to the data till October 4, Punjab accounted for 656 stubble-burning incidents, the highest, followed by Haryana’s 166. Uttar Pradesh had 74 cases, Madhya Pradesh 47, Rajasthan 45 while Delhi has had a single case.