Punjab: Farm fires cross 7,000-mark after over 400 fresh cases on Monday

Chandigarh: Farm fire cases crossed the 7,000-mark in Punjab with the state reporting 418 fresh incidents on Monday.

Meanwhile, the air quality in many parts of Punjab and Haryana remained in the 'poor' category on Monday. However, Chandigarh's Air Quality Index (AQI) was in the 'very poor' zone.

From September 15 till November 11, Punjab has seen a total of 7,029 stubble burning incidents, as per the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre data.

Among the districts, Sangrur on Monday reported 103 farm fires, maximum in the state, followed by 72 in Ferozepur, 46 in Muktsar, 40 in Moga, 37 in Mansa, 29 in Faridkot and 24 in Bathinda, the data showed.

Gurdaspur and SBS Nagar districts witnessed the lowest number of farm fires at one each, as per the data.

Punjab has seen an addition of around 3,000 farm fire incidents since November 3.

The air quality of Chandigarh, which is the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, continued to remain in the 'very poor' category.

Chandigarh recorded an AQI of 331 at 7 pm, according to the Central Pollution Control Board's Sameer App, which provides hourly updates.

Among places in Haryana, the AQI in Jind was 286, Gurugram (284), Charkhi Dadri (283), Bhiwani (272), Bahadurgarh (271), Sonipat (254), Yamunanagar (237), Panchkula (232) and Rohtak (226).

In Punjab, the AQI was 245 in Mandi Gobindgarh, 222 in Jalandhar, 213 in Amritsar and 203 each in Ludhiana and Patiala.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', 401 and 450 'severe' and above 450 'severe plus'.

Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is often blamed for the rise in air pollution in Delhi after harvesting of the paddy crop in October and November.

As the window for the Rabi crop -- wheat -- is very short after paddy harvest, some farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue for sowing of the next crop.

Punjab recorded a total of 36,663 farm fire cases in 2023, registering a 26 per cent drop in such incidents.

The state recorded 49,922 farm fire events in 2022, 71,304 in 2021, 76,590 in 2020, 55,210 in 2019 and 50,590 in 2018 with many districts including Sangrur, Mansa, Bathinda and Amritsar witnessing large number of stubble burning incidents.