Over 1,000 Stubble Burning Incidents Reported In Punjab Today

Punjab on Friday registered 1,150 stubble-burning incidents, taking the total number of such cases to 33,082.

Air quality indices remained in 'very poor' and 'poor' categories in many parts of neighbouring Haryana and Punjab.

Many farmers in Punjab continued to set paddy straw ablaze while ignoring appeals from the state government and warning of legal action against them.

Amid a spike in pollution levels in Delhi-NCR, the Supreme Court on November 7 directed Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to ensure crop residue burning was stopped "forthwith", saying it cannot let "people die" due to pollution.

Of the 1,150 farm fires reported on Friday, Moga witnessed maximum such cases at 225, followed by 117 in Barnala, 114 in Ferozepur, 110 in Sangrur, 109 in Bathinda and 101 in Faridkot.

On the same day in 2021 and 2022, the state had seen 523 and 966 farm fires respectively.

Out of total 33,082 farm fires recorded from September 15 till November 17, Sangrur is leading with maximum stubble burning cases of 5,462, followed by 2,998 in Ferozepur, 2,696 in Bathinda, 2,194 in Mansa, 2,170 in Moga and 2,112 in Barnala.

The state had reported 69,300 and 47,788 stubble burning incidents in the corresponding period of 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is considered one of the reasons behind the alarming spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November.

Meanwhile, Haryana's Fatehabad reported an air quality index (AQI) of 409, followed by 371 in Faridabad, 362 in Bhiwani, 357 in Hisar, 351 in Sonipat, 341 in Gurugram, 311 in Rohtak and 301 in Narnaul.

In Punjab, Mandi Gobindgarh reported AQI at 239, followed by 222 in Jalandhar, 208 in Ludhiana, 197 in Rupnagar, 188 in Amritsar, 172 in Patiala and 141 in Khanna.

The Union Territory of Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, saw an AQI of 132.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'. 

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