At 484, stubble burning cases in Punjab spiked over past week: PPCB data

Chandigarh: Punjab recorded 484 stubble burning incidents from September 15 to October 22, marking a sharp increase of 296 from the 188 cases recorded till October 16, Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) data showed.

As per the data, Tarn Taran witnessed the highest number of farm fires at 154, followed by Amritsar at 126, Ferozepur 55, Patiala 31 and Gurdaspur 23, as many farmers continue to ignore government appeals to stop crop residue burning.

Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is often blamed for the rise in air pollution in Delhi-NCR.

As the window for the Rabi crop, wheat, is very short after paddy harvest in October and November, some farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue. Fines amounting to Rs 11.45 lakh have been imposed as environmental compensation in 226 cases so far, according to PPCB data. Of the total fine, Rs 7.40 lakh has been collected so far.

The data also showed that 184 FIRs, including 61 in Tarn Taran and 53 in Amritsar, were registered against farm fire incidents during this period under Section 223 (disobedience of order promulgated by public servant) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

State authorities have also marked 187 red entries, mostly in Tarn Taran and Amritsar, in land records of farmers who burnt crop residues.

A red entry bars farmers from getting loans against their farmland or selling it.

According to PPCB data, the total area under paddy cultivation in Punjab this year is 31.72 lakh hectares. Till October 22, 36.71 per cent of this area had been harvested.

While the state government has launched a campaign to highlight the ill-effects of stubble burning and the benefits of crop residue management, many farmers still use the former method to clear crop residues.

Punjab saw 10,909 farm fires in 2024 as compared to 36,663 in 2023, registering a 70 per cent decrease in the practice.

The state recorded 49,922 farm fire events in 2022, 71,304 in 2021, 76,590 in 2020, 55,210 in 2019 and 50,590 in 2018, with many districts, including Sangrur, Mansa, Bathinda and Amritsar, witnessing large number of stubble burning incidents.