Spurt in farm fires, 9,386 incidents in three days; state govt red-faced

A sudden spike in stubble burning in Punjab has left the state government red-faced amid its claims of having put effective measures in place to check the menace, with 9,386 farm fires — almost 40 per cent of this season so far — recorded in the last three days only.

On Friday, a total of 3,415 farm fires, the highest of this season, were captured through the visible infrared imaging radiometer suite (VIIRS) in the state. Sangrur topped the chart among the districts at 670, followed by Bathinda (503), Muktsar (353), Mansa (328), Patiala (303) and Ferozpur (237). SAS Nagar, Rupnagar and SBS Nagar districts recorded the minimum with 5, 3 and 1 fire incidents respectively.

On the same day (November 2) in 2016 and 2017, the satellite had captured 2,990 and 1,126 active fires in the state. As many as 80,879 cases of stubble burning were reported in 2016, with 2017 seeing a steep decline at 43,660.

“Since there is little time left to sow the wheat, we have no other option but to burn the stubble. The paddy harvesting got delayed by 20 days due to late sowing and it rained when harvest was about to start. Other farmer unions are supporting us,” said Gulzar Singh of Ghanaur of Patiala.

The BKU (Dakunda) is supporting the stubble burning.

The state government has distributed 30,000 machines to manage stubble, providing a subsidy of ₹300 crore. Nearly 8,000 field officials have been deputed to check stubble burning.

“Farmers usually burn straw in the last leg of harvest. But data shows that the area under stubble burning is much lesser than the previous year. We have 330 fire incidents for per 1 lakh acre. Secondly, our average air quality index (AQI) for October is 117, which last year was 275. This shows that stubble burning has declined,” said Karnesh Garg, member secretary, Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB).

3,415 FARM FIRES, THE HIGHEST OF THIS SEASON, CAPTURED BY VISIBLE INFRARED IMAGING RADIOMETER SUITE ON FRIDAY