Punjab: 71% reduction in incidents of stubble burning compared to last year

Punjab: Stubble burning in Punjab is considered the main reason for the hazardous air quality in New Delhi, but there has been a 71.37 per cent reduction in the number of farm fires in the state compared to last year. This data was provided by Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh in response to a question by MPs Gaddigoudar Parvatagouda Chandanagouda (Karnataka) and Dr Kirsan Namdev (Maharashtra) during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha today. The data provided in the reply showed that only 9,655 “paddy residue burning incidents” were recorded in Punjab this year, while 33,719 incidents were recorded during the same period between September 15 and November 18 last year. This reduction is more than 80 per cent compared to the stubble burning figures in 2022, when a total of 44,489 incidents were reported. The reply of the Minister of State said that the data has been compiled as part of a standard protocol developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in consultation with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

The number of incidents of farm fires in the neighboring state of Haryana has also come down from 3,088 in 2022 to 1,118 this year. It was 2,052 in 2023. At the same time, the number in Uttar Pradesh has increased from 72 in 2022 to 192 this year, which is about 66 percent. The reply said that air pollution in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) is a collective result of vehicular pollution, industrial pollution, dust from construction and demolition activities, road and open area dust, burning of biomass, burning of municipal solid waste, fire in landfills and air pollution from scattered sources etc. “During the post-monsoon and winter months, low temperatures, low mixing height, inversion conditions and stagnant winds trap the pollutants leading to high pollution in the region. This is further aggravated by emissions from episodic events such as stubble burning and firecrackers. The burning of paddy stubble in the NCR districts of Punjab, Haryana, UP and northern states of other regions affects the air quality in NCR, especially during the period between October and November,” the reply said.