Punjab sees 12.59% rise in stubble burning incidents in last 50 days: ICAR

The number of paddy stubble burning incidents in Punjab rose 12.59 per cent year-on-year to 26,583 in the last 50 days, with a spurt in such cases after Diwali, according to the latest ICAR data.

However, when compared to Punjab, the number of paddy stubble burning events in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi remained lower between September 15 and November 4 this year, the data showed.

On Friday alone, a total of 2,945 stubble-burning events were detected in six states, out of which a maximum of 2,437 incidents were in Punjab, followed by Madhya Pradesh (348), Haryana (63), Uttar Pradesh (61), Rajasthan (34) and Delhi (2).

Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the country's premier agriculture research institute under the aegis of the Agriculture Ministry, has come out with a bulletin based on the inputs from the three remote sensing satellites -- Suomi NPP, Terra and Aqua -- at the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC).

Stubble burning in Delhi's neighbouring states, which has been an old menace during the paddy harvesting season, remains a significant contributor to air pollution, especially across northern India, including the national capital.

According to the data, Punjab saw 26,583 paddy stubble burning incidents between September 15 and November 4 this year against 23,610 incidents in the year-ago period.

The number of such incidents has shown a sharp jump after Diwali in Punjab as such events were only 181 on October 25 and thereafter rose to 2,067 on October 28 and then to 3,634 on November 2 and 2,666 on November 3.

Sangrur, Tarn Taran, Patiala, Firozpur, Bathinda, Barnala and Amritsar were some of the districts where maximum stubble-burning incidents were detected so far.

Similarly in Madhya Pradesh, the cumulative stubble-burning incidents remained higher at 1,927 between September 15 and November 4, when compared to 1,765 in the year-ago period. The stubble-burning events were higher in the last few days in the state.

In Rajasthan too, the number of cumulative stubble-burning incidents remained higher at 496 as of Friday, when compared to 187 in the year-ago period.

About nine stubble-burning events were detected in Delhi, the same level as the last year.

However, in Uttar Pradesh, such stubble-burning events remained lower at 903 as of November 4 against 1,493 events in the year-ago period, while in Haryana, it remained lower at 2,440 compared to 3,666 in the year-ago period.

A total of 32,358 burning events were detected in the six states between September 15 and November 4 this year.