Farm fires start early this year

Chandigarh: Farmers in Punjab have started setting ablaze their residual crop much before the anticipated dates, as evidenced by 31 cases of stubble-burning reported from Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Nawanshahr districts since September 15, according to data collected by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB).

On Friday, 13 cases were reported, including 11 from Amritsar and one each from Nawanshahr and Tarn Taran. Most cases of the setting ablaze of crop residue have been reported from farms where basmati paddy was planted.

“The instructions from the Supreme Court are very clear: to take strict penal action against farmers who indulge in burning of paddy stubble. I have asked deputy commissioners in all districts to take action accordingly,” said special chief secretary KAP Sinha, who is in charge of the agriculture department.

Every year, Delhi faces a public health crisis in the run-up to and during most of the winter season. The crisis begins with the farm fires in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, where farmers set fire to hundreds of square kilometres of paddy fields after harvesting them to clear them of residue, posing severe health and environmental risks. It causes a smog jacket to form over northern India, particularly Delhi.

The crisis often pushes the Capital’s air into the severe category, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) climbing past 400 and even 450, to reach pollution levels of “severe” and “severe-plus”, especially since this period also coincides with the festival of Diwali.

Punjab officials said the government is ensuring the fires are brought to the negligible levels, he said. Every kharif season, paddy is cultivated on nearly seven million acres, which produces 22 million tonnes of paddy stubble.

Cases of stubble burning have been reported 15 days before the start of paddy harvest, which usually begins on October 1.

As of Friday, Amritsar district, which is located in the Majha belt, topped the chart with 26 paddy stubble fires recorded by PPCB since September 15, followed by Tarn Taran (3), and one each in Ferozepur and Nawanshahr.

“We are working towards bringing farm fires to zero level and the Supreme Court and national green tribunal (NGT) is monitoring on a day to day basis,” said PPCB chairman Adarsh Pal Vij.

In 2023, farm fires in Punjab decreased by 25%, according to PPCB and Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), from 49,922 in 2022 to 36,623 in 2023.