PPCB blames Hry for smog in border dists

At a time when the Delhi government is blaming Punjab farmers for stubble-burning and thereof rise in air pollution in the national capital region (NCR), Punjab has held Haryana responsible for rise in smog in Patiala, Sangrur, Bathinda and Mansa districts that share boundary with the neighbouring state.

With the pollution level in Delhi reaching the ‘hazardous’ level, and the Air Quality Index (AQI) of some Haryana cities crossing the 300 mark, Punjab has blamed the latter for jump in the air pollution levels in parts of its districts along the border.

Punjab has cited lesser farm fire incidents and the AQI data to bolster its claim. After steep rise in the farm fire incidents for two days, the number was much less on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday 966 farm fire incidents were reported in Punjab, which came down to 843 on Sunday.

“The AQI in Punjab, especially central part, is much better than the previous years. We had average AQI (nearly 135) on Sunday afternoon with industrial hub Ludhiana recording just 100,” said Charanjit Singh, spokesman of PPCB.

“But in the evening, smog engulfed Samana, Patran, Rajpura towns of Patiala; Khanauri and some areas of other districts that share boundary with Haryana. It’s all because of stubble burning in Haryana and the wind direction blowing towards Punjab that a dense smog engulfed some cities of Punjab,” he said.

He said the AQI of Punjab reflects that there is no largescale stubble burning as it used to be in the previous years when the average AQI remained above 300. “This year, our average AQI for October and November never crossed 150. There were only 150 fire incidents in Patiala and nearby districts, but the AQI was 177, the highest in Punjab, because of the straw burning in Haryana. The average AQI of Haryana was nearly 300 on Sunday evening,” he said.