New Delhi, The Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas has issued a statutory direction for coordinated and time-bound implementation of state action plans to prevent and eliminate wheat stubble burning in the 2026 harvesting season, officials said on Monday.
The direction has been issued to the governments of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, with complementary efforts expected from the governments of Delhi and Rajasthan.
The directives laid out by the Commission for Air Quality Management include mapping each farm in all the villages for the proposed mode of wheat stubble management, tagging specific nodal officers to a group of farmers and covering all farmers in the district.
It also directs the governments to ensure optimum utilisation and timely availability of crop residue management machines to the farmers mainly during the peak harvesting season through a mobile app, mandate rent-free availability of CRM machines for small and marginal farmers through the CHCs, among other measures.
"Agricultural residue burning contributes to the deterioration of air quality both locally and across the NCR and adjoining areas and therefore requires structured seasonal preparedness. Satellite-based monitoring during the wheat harvesting season , recording such fire incidents across the region, highlighted the need for targeted wheat-season interventions alongside existing paddy-season measures," a senior official said.
"The Commission had provided a broad framework to the states concerned for control and elimination of crop residue burning and directed them to draw up detailed state-specific action plans based on the major contours of the framework," the official added.
{{/usCountry}}"The Commission had provided a broad framework to the states concerned for control and elimination of crop residue burning and directed them to draw up detailed state-specific action plans based on the major contours of the framework," the official added.
{{/usCountry}}As per the standard protocol developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Indian Agricultural Research Institute , the numbers of fire events recorded during the wheat-harvesting season in Punjab, Haryana, and NCR districts of Uttar Pradesh were 10,207, 1,832, and 259 respectively.
States have been asked to establish a robust and continuous supply chain of wheat straw in various forms for ex-situ applications , including its use as fodder.
A district-level supply chain management plan will be formulated for each district, considering demand and supply throughout the year, according to the official.
"States have been asked to form a dedicated Parali Protection Force at the district or block level comprising of police officers, officers of the agriculture department, administrative officers, nodal and cluster officers and officials from other stakeholder departments, to closely monitor, oversee and guard against any incidence of open wheat stubble burning," the official added.
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