Ghaziabad: Instances of stubble burning reported near Dasna

Ghaziabad: Amid the rising levels of air pollution in Ghaziabad, some farmers on Tuesday allegedly indulged in stubble burning in their fields at Kushaliya near Dasna which is adjacent to the Eastern Peripheral Expressway. This is probably the first instance of stubble burning in Ghaziabad during the current season, following which the district administration has directed the officials to verify the same.

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An HT team on Tuesday found some stubble burning instances at Kushaliya even as the Ghaziabad district magistrate has given strict directions to the sub-divisional magistrates concerned to keep a close watch on any instance of farm fires. HT also shared some pictures of the incident with the district administration officials.

“I have asked the officials to verify the instance of stubble burning at Kushaliya, and will be able to offer comments only when the condition is verified at ground level. However, we have already directed officials of different areas to sensitize farmers and keep close watch on any such activities. If any such instances are found, we will levy penalty and FIR will also be lodged,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB’s) data on Tuesday, the air quality index (AQI) of Ghaziabad stood under ‘poor’ category at 299, while Noida remained under ‘poor’ category with AQI levels at 286. However, Greater Noida slipped to ‘very poor’ category with AQI levels recorded at 306, the CPCB data shows.

The instances of stubble burning in states like Punjab and Haryana have already deteriorated the air quality in the region. Officials of the Indian Meteorological Department on Monday had said that the local pollutants have made the things worse.

During a video conferencing on Monday, the UP chief secretary had directed officials specifically to curb the instances of stubble burning and ensure that no such instance takes place.

According to official statistics of the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space (CREAMS) Laboratory -- a Division of Agricultural Physics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi -- during the period from October 1 to 12, Punjab has recorded 2,166 instances of stubble burning as against 607 during the same period last year. During the period this year, Haryana has 586 instances of crop stubble burning as against 700 during the same period in 2019. On the other hand, in UP, 202 such instances have taken place during the first 12 days of October as against 199 in the corresponding period of last year.

According to CREAMS data, during the said this year, Ghaziabad had no instance of stubble burning, while the district in 2019 had just 17 instances of stubble burning during the period from October 1 to November 30.

Meanwhile, the AQI levels at in Ghaziabad’s four monitoring stations -- Indirapuram, Loni, Sanjay Nagar and Vasundhara -- stood at 285, 344, 285 and 283, respectively, at 4pm on Tuesday.

“The two stations which are giving us issues were inspected on Tuesday. For Sanjay Nagar, I have directed deputing of staff of fire department at the post near the monitoring station. They will monitor regular water sprinkling in the area and also ensure that there is no dust emission,” Pandey said.

The DM further said that the government agencies taking up infrastructure projects have been directed to strictly take up pollution abatement measures at their sites to bring down the pollution levels. “We have also directed the National Highways Authority of India and NCR Transport Corporation to continue taking measures to ensure that there is no deterioration in air quality levels,” he added.

In Loni, the officials also penalised seven construction sites which were storing construction material in open and flouting norms. The officials said that they levied ₹2.55 lakh combined penalty against the seven instances.