Toxic air: In 6 days, stubble burning cases see fourfold jump in Punjab
The number jumped from 3,228 cases on October 22 to 12,776 on October 28
teams have been told to fan out and counsel farmers.
Despite the spurt, the number of fires is lower as compared to the corresponding period in 2017 when 27,000 such incidents were reported. Last year, Punjab recorded a total of 44,000 stubble fires.
The air quality index (AQI) of Punjab was 155, which is moderate, on Monday, while Delhi’s AQI index was 367, considered very poor.
Patiala, the hometown of the chief minister, reported 1,457 fires till Sunday and is second only to Tarn Taran district, where 1,593 cases were reported.
To manage straw without burning, the government supplied 24,315 subsidised agro-machines to farmers, cooperative societies and custom hiring centres this year. It appointed nodal officers in 8,000 villages.
“I held a video conference with deputy commissioners of the state and asked them to caution farmers and penalise violators,” agriculture secretary and state nodal officer Kahan Singh Pannu said.
He blamed farm union leaders for instigating farmers. “In many areas, there was symbolic burning of straw on less than 200 square yards but that has been
recorded in satellite images. Otherwise, the AQI is better than last year when it was around 300,” he said.
Paddy is grown on 65 lakh
acres in Punjab. After harvest, 20 million tonnes of paddy straw is left in fields to be managed by farmers before sowing the next rabi crop.