Punjab Police have registered more than 1,100 FIRs and marked over 1,300 “red entries” in farmers’ land records this paddy harvesting season, even as the number of stubble-burning incidents in state crossed 5,000 and edged closer to last year’s total.
The state reported 345 fresh farm fires, taking the cumulative count to 5,002, according to the latest data compiled by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). With 20 days remaining in the 2026 monitoring period, the figure is just 112 short of the 5,114 incidents recorded during the whole of last year.
Officials said taking action against farmers for stubble burning remained difficult, despite pressure from central agencies. “There is tremendous pressure from the central agencies — the Commission for Air Quality Management and the National Green Tribunal — but farmers in Punjab comprise a strong and large pressure group,” said an official in the science and technology department, under which the Punjab Pollution Control Board functions, requesting anonymity. “Farmers who face FIRs have to visit the courts repeatedly, which is an ordeal, but none have been convicted so far,” said another senior agriculture department official. However, “nodal officers cannot stay in the villages because of fear of the farmers,” the agriculture department official said.
State minister Aman Arora, on his part, said the sustained efforts of the AAP government have brought the far fire count down by 95% in six years. “Punjab had recorded 83,002 stubble-burning incidents in 2020, which declined to 5,114 in 2025. The number had further fallen this time, marking a nearly 95% reduction compared to 2020,” said Arora. Highlighting the state government’s efforts, Arora said that more than 1.60 lakh crop residue management machines had been provided at subsidised rates to farmers, panchayats, farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and custom hiring centres since 2022. Of these, 25,917 machines had been provided during the current year alone.
Because the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government has provided farmers with practical alternatives and necessary resources, he added, this remarkable reduction has been achieved.
