Delhi AQI to worsen as Punjab reports season's highest farm fires at 1,251

Chandigarh: Punjab on Monday reported 1,251 fresh farm fire cases, the single-day highest this season, taking the state's total count of such cases to 9,655, Punjab Remote Sensing Centre data showed.

On November 8, Punjab reported 730 farm fire incidents, which was the highest in a day this season till Monday.

Muktsar district on Monday reported 247 stubble burning incidents, the most in the state, followed by Moga (149), Ferozepur (130), Bathinda (129), Fazilka (94) and Faridkot (88), the data showed.

On the same day in 2022 and 2023, the state reported 701 and 637 active firm fire cases, respectively, as per the data.

From September 15 till November 18, Punjab witnessed 9,655 stubble burning incidents, registering around 71 per cent dip in crop residue burnings in comparison to the figures reported in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Punjab saw 48,489 and 33,719 farm fire cases during the same period in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is often blamed for the rise in air pollution in Delhi-NCR after the harvesting of paddy in October-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 the crop residue for sowing new crop.

Punjab recorded a total of 36,663 farm fire cases in 2023, registering a 26 per cent drop as compared to the previous year, the data showed.