Punjab air quality improves as paddy harvesting nears end
BATHINDA/SANGRUR : Five out of eight continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) of Punjab calculated air quality as ‘satisfactory’ on Tuesday, indicating that the paddy stubble burning phase is inching towards its end.
State agriculture director Gurvinder Singh said wheat has been sown on more than 70% of the targeted area of 35 lakh hectares, while the paddy has been harvested in 97% of the total area under cultivation.
Punjab Mandi Board data corroborates the culmination of kharif season as 96% of the paddy has been procured.
Till November 15, more than 178 lakh metric tonnes of paddy had arrived in different mandis against 186 lakh MT in the last kharif season.
Experts said intermittent drizzling since Monday morning also contributed to the improvement in state’s air quality.
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed the air quality index (AQI) of Khanna at 53, the best in Punjab on Tuesday as it was three notches above the ‘good’ category (0-50). Centres at Mandi Gobindgarh and Rupnagar recorded ‘moderate’ AQI at 101 and 119, respectively, which was marginally higher than the ‘satisfactory’ scale (50-100). Bathinda’s AQI was the highest at 167. Analysis of CPCB data showed that the prominent air pollutant of particulate matter (PM) 2.5 was only found at Mandi Gobindgarh, whereas inhalable PM 10 was present as the main pollutant in Bathinda, Jalandhar, Patiala, Rupnagar, Ludhiana, and Amritsar. Ozone was audited as the main pollutant at Khanna. According to VK Garg, professor of environmental science and technology at Bathinda-based Central University of Punjab, the presence of airborne PM 2.5 is a health hazard and its downward trend could be seen as a relief. “Crop residue burning, fuel emission, and burning of waste are among the key contributors to PM 2.5. A couple of showers in the next few days will help settle the pollutants to make the air more breathable and come as a relief to the people having respiratory related ailments,” he added.
141 farm fires reported
Punjab on Tuesday recorded 141 cases of stubble burning, taking the total count of farm fire incidents to 45,464 this kharif season, the state remote sensing centre’s data showed.
Twenty-seven cases were reported each from Bathinda and Mansa districts, followed by Barnala (20), Ferozepur (11), Patiala (9), and Ludhiana (8). Malerkotla, Fatehgarh Sahib and Sangrur saw seven cases each; Moga and Muktsar registered four, while Amritsar, Fazilka, Faridkot, Gurdaspur, Mohali, SBS Nagar and Tarn Taran contributed to the remaining incidents.