Punjab recorded 50 fresh stubble burning incidents taking the cumulative tally to 454 as of October 21, surpassing the 415 cases reported during the corresponding period last year, according to data from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB). The state recorded 5,114 farm fires during the entire paddy harvesting season last year.
Most fires have been reported from districts where early-maturing paddy varieties were cultivated. Harvesting has only recently begun in several other areas. “Our teams are on the ground working 24×7.
83% of the paddy crop has already been harvested in Amritsar and 73% in Tarn Taran, according to the PPCB data.
State nodal officer at the PPCB Rajeev Gupta said enforcement teams were working round the clock to curb the practice. We urge farmers to adopt in-situ or ex-situ management of stubble instead of burning it,” he said.
Rising farm fires have coincided with deteriorating air quality across the state. Such entries restrict farmers’ ability to secure loans against, sell or mortgage their land. General secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Dakunda) Jagmohan Singh said managing stubble cost small farmers between ₹ 3,000 and ₹ 3,500 per acre, making the process financially unviable for many. “The government should provide an incentive of ₹ 100 per quintal of paddy to help farmers manage the straw. Jalandhar’s air quality index (AQI) climbed to 198 on Wednesday from 130 on Sunday. Mandi Gobindgarh recorded an AQI of 177, while Bathinda’s AQI rose to 142 on October 21, according to the PPCB monitoring dashboard. Environmental compensation totalling ₹ 8.3 lakh has been imposed in 164 cases, of which ₹ 4.38 lakh has been recovered, according to a Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) report. Authorities have registered 62 FIRs under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and made red entries in land records in 130 cases.
Those who continue burning stubble despite receiving the incentive should be punished,” he said.
