Stubble burning incidents in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and NCR states down by 54% this year, says Centre
The government credited the reduction in stubble burning incidents to frequent review and daily monitoring.
The total stubble burning incidents in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, National Capital Region-UP and National Capital Region-Rajasthan have come down from 13,964 in the time period between September 15 to October 29 in 2022 to 6,391 this year, the ministry of environment, forest and climate change said on Monday.
The government credited the reduction in stubble burning incidents to frequent review and daily monitoring.
ALSO READ: Stubble fires contribute most to push Delhi air in ‘very poor’ zone
Punjab
In Punjab, the stubble burning incident detected during the above mentioned 45 days stand at 5,254 against 12,112 in 2022 and 9,001 in 2021. The ministry, thus said, that the farm fire incidents in the state during those 45 days are 56.6 per cent and 41.6 per cent lesser than the corresponding periods in 2022 and 2021 respectively.
“In Punjab, during these 45 days period, the single day highest fire count during this year was reported on 29th October i.e., 1,068 as against 2,067 reported on 28th October in 2022 and 1,353 reported on 29th October in 2021”, the government added.
Amritsar (1,060), Tarn Taran (646), Patiala (614), Sangrur (564) and Ferozepur (517) are the districts where maximum stubble burning has been detected in the current year so far.
Haryana
In Haryana, 1,094 stubble burning incidents were reported between September 15 to October 29 this year as compared to 1,813 last year and 2,413 in 2021, i.e the fire farming incidents were 39.7% & 54.7% lesser as compared to the previous two years.
Fatehabad (180), Kaithal (151), Ambala (147), Jind (132) and Kurukshetra (120) are the five districts which reported the maximum farm fires.
According to the ministry, the Centre has released about ₹3,333 crore under the Crop Residue Management Scheme, to Punjab, NCR states and Delhi for subsidised procurement of machines by individual farmers / custom hiring centres and cooperatives to facilitate in-situ management of paddy straw as also for baling / raking machines and equipments to facilitate ex-situ applications.
The total amount of crop residue management (CRM) machines available in Punjab are 1,17,672, Haryana – 80,071 and in UP- NCR – 7,986. Additionally, action is underway to procure additional 23,000 CRM machines in Punjab, 7,572 in Haryana and 595 in Uttar Pradesh for NCR to augment availability during the current harvesting season, the government added.
Noting that the stubble burning cases in Punjab had increased in the last few days, the government has said that both Punjab and Haryana have been advised by the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) to mobilise the entire State administrative machinery to take all preventive and corrective measure for control of stubble burning as per the Framework and Action Plans, for further focused attention to ensure that the gains achieved are not lost and the momentum is maintained in the coming days, the government added.