New Delhi:

The number of stubble-burning incidents in Punjab and Haryana since September 15 has reduced by around 56 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively, compared to the corresponding period last year.

In the period between September 15 and October 29, the cumulative number of farm fires in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and NCR areas of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh has reduced from 13,964 in 2022 to 6,391 in 2023, the Centre’s Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) said.

There were 11,461 stubble-burning cases in the corresponding period in 2021, it said.

In Punjab, there were 5,254 stubble burning incidents during this 45-day period this year, compared to 12,112 in 2022 and 9,001 in 2021. This represents a reduction of 56.6 per cent and 41.6 per cent, respectively.

Haryana reported 1,094 stubble burning cases during this 45-day period this year and it is significantly lower than the 1,813 in 2022 and 2,413 in 2021. This reflects a reduction of 39.7 per cent and 54.7 per cent, respectively.

The Central government has allocated approximately Rs. 3,333 crore under the Crop Residue Management Scheme to the state governments of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.

These funds support the subsidised procurement of machines by individual farmers, custom hiring centres and cooperatives for in-situ management of paddy straw and for baling/raking machines and equipment for ex-situ applications.

The total number of crop residue management (CRM) machines available is 1,17,672 in Punjab, 80,071 in Haryana, and 7,986 in UP-NCR. Additional procurement is underway to acquire 23,000 CRM machines in Punjab, 7,572 in Haryana, and 595 in Uttar Pradesh to augment their availability during the current harvesting season.

While the reduction in paddy stubble burning incidents is evident, the recent days have seen a sudden surge in Punjab. It is expected that harvesting activities will peak in the coming weeks. On October 29 alone, Punjab reported 1,068 stubble burning cases, the CAQM said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Winter is approaching, so is bad air quality in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). Crop-residue or stubble burning in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana is likely to add to the city’s worsening air quality index, or AQI.

We look at the farm fire situation in Punjab, based on data and imagery from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that has been tracking the situation for the past few years.

On October 25, 2019, the dots you see on this map of Punjab are of farm fires. It changes every year.

On October 25, 2020, the dots representing farm fires remain similar.

The same dots are seen every year – 2021, 2022, 2023 – in the sample imagery taken on the same date.

Now, just a couple of hours ago today, the NASA imagery shows a large area with the red dots, showing significant farm fires in Punjab.

To understand the data, we need to look at the trends between October 1 and 25, i.e. today. The data gives some interesting insights into the problem.

Between 2012 and now, except 2016, when farm fires really raged across Punjab, there has been a broad downward trend in crop residue burning. For example, 2020. But if you see 2023, the number indicates stubble burning in Punjab has been at its lowest since 2012.

“I was surprised to see that the fires in Punjab and Haryana have been lowest. We have never seen such low farm fires trend. There could be two reasons – the burning season has been delayed for some reason. It seems rainfall was in excess in Haryana and Punjab this July and August, which destroyed some crops,” Hiren Jethva, Senior Research Scientist at Morgan State University NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, told NDTV today.

“I am a bit afraid the (burning) season has been delayed, and we haven’t seen the big fires, likely to happen in the coming two weeks,” the scientist said.

Delhi’s air quality was recorded in the “poor” category for a third day running on Wednesday and a major improvement is unlikely over the next few days, according to monitoring agencies. The city’s average air quality index (AQI) stood at 238 at 10 am, worsening from 220 at 4 pm on Tuesday.

The average AQI was 196 in neighbouring Ghaziabad, 258 in Faridabad, 176 in Gurugram, 200 in Noida and 248 in Greater Noida.

According to the Centre’s Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, the city’s air quality is likely to oscillate between the “poor” and “very poor” categories over the next four to five days.

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.

Delhi’s air quality had turned “very poor” on Sunday for the first time since May, mainly due to a drop in temperature and wind speed, which allowed pollutants to accumulate.