Mohit Khanna

Patiala, October 26

Punjab today witnessed 589 farm fire incidents, the highest in a single day so far this season. With these, paddy residue burning cases have gone up to 1,849 over the past one week in the state.

However, the state pollution control board says there is a 50% drop in stubble burning events this year. Since September 15, the state has witnessed a total of 3,293 incidents.

At 91, Amritsar saw maximum fire events in the state today, followed by Patiala 81, Tarn Taran 67 and Sangrur 63. The holy city also tops the overall tally with 925 stubble burning events since September 15, while Patiala has witnessed 406 cases, Tarn Taran 386, Ferozepur 272 and Sangrur 240. Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) Chairman Adarshpal Vig maintains the state has witnessed a dip in the stubble burning incident as compared to last year. Against 3,293 incidents reported till October 26 this year, the state had recorded 7,036 fire events till the corresponding period last year. In 2021, the count stood at 6,463, while it was whopping 18,347 in 2020.

Farm experts, however, say the number may rise in the coming days as the harvest period has been delayed by nearly 20 days due to the unprecedented rainfall in the region in July and August this year.

The air quality index (AQI) continues to deteriorate with the presence of particulate matter in the air crossing 100 points.

Jalandhar remains the most polluted city with an AQI of 193, followed by Amritsar (172), Ludhiana (146) and Patiala (118). As per health experts, such conditions may trigger breathing discomfort to people with lungs, asthma and heart diseases.

As per the AQI standards, the air quality between 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’, and 401-500 ‘severe’.

As talks with farmer unions have failed to curb fire incidents, the Patiala administration has decided to use drones to closely monitor stubble fires in fields.

DC Sakshi Sawhney says drones have been deployed in hotspots, including Patran and Ghanour areas, to survey fields from the sky in villages. Immediate action is being taken wherever a fire incident is detected.On Wednesday, the DC had met with representatives of various farmer unions and sought their collaborative effort to prevent burning of stubble. However, a surge was witnessed a day after the meeting.