Punjab: Farm fires see massive spike, more likely ahead

The number of stubble blazes in Punjab continues to rise, with 2,544 fires recorded on Wednesday, in defiance of the Supreme Court's directives.

The number of stubble blazes in Punjab continued to swell on Wednesday as farmers set fire to vast swathes of paddy fields ahead of the rabi sowing season, in blatant defiance of the Supreme Court’s directives.

Punjab recorded 2,544 farm fires, a sharp jump from 1,776 on Tuesday and 1,624 on Monday. (ANI)

Punjab recorded 2,544 farm fires, a sharp jump from 1,776 on Tuesday and 1,624 on Monday. Wednesday’s count took the state’s stubble fire tally this season to 30,661, still nearly 20,000 short of last year’s count.

Of the 49,992 farm fires last year, 6,703 were reported between November 16 and 30. In 2021, this number was 4,284 out of 71,304 cases.

Barring a dramatic turnaround in cropping patterns or an unlikely intervention by state authorities, it is likely that more fires will burn over the next few days and push clouds of pollution towards the national capital.

Police officers blamed the failure of enforcement on a shortage of logistics on the ground and a lack of cooperation from residents.

Read | Delhi’s air quality remains ‘severe’, no immediate respite in sight

A Punjab deputy superintendent of police said, “Even as station house officers (SHO) directed sarpanchs to furnish information of stubble fires in their respective villages, nothing came of it.”

“Moreover, there is no scientific system that can provide us with immediate reports of farm fires in real-time in an area so that instant action could be taken,” said the officer.

Still, the simmering paddy fields fly in the face of orders by India’s top court, which last week ordered the governments of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh to put a halt to all stubble fires.

Delhi’s choked air is resulting in “complete murder of our young people”, the court said during its hearing last Tuesday.

Twenty districts in the state recorded farm fires, with Bathinda on top with 356 cases, followed by 318 in Moga, 264 in Barnala, 262 in Sangrur, 253 in Ferozepur and 225 in Faridkot.

Muktsar district recorded 180 active farm fire incidents followed by 179 in Fazilka and 144 in Ludhiana. Three districts, SAS Nagar, Rupnagar and Pathankot, didn’t report a single case of stubble burning.

Punjab government officials on Wednesday said they registered 83 first information reports against farmers caught burning paddy stubble. Still, over the entire course of the stubble burning season, the police have filed only 336 cases against violating cultivators.

Arpit Shukla, Punjab’s special DGP (law and order) and nodal officer tasked with curbing farm fires, said the state police has taken strict measures to implement the apex court directions and apart from registering cases, have conducted meeting at all levels exhorting the farmers to shun stubble fire.