Punjab rapped for failure to control stubble burning surge ahead of Diwali

A week ahead of Diwali, stubble burning cases in the northern states have again picked up pace with an increase of over 800 per cent from previous years.

On Monday and Tuesday, 1,045 events of stubble burning were reported as against 114 events during the same period in 2021, accordingg to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute’s real-time monitoring of paddy residue burning events.

However, in Punjab, which is the hot bed of stubble burning between October 17 and 18 this year, there was a decline of 61 cases due to delayed high moisture in standing paddy due to which harvest had to be deferred.

The contribution of the past two days in the total number of residue burning events is 36.37 per cent of the 2,873 cases reported from September 15 to October 18.

The contribution of stubble burning to Delhi’s PM 2.5 concentration was around 3 percent on Monday, the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (Safar), a body under the ministry of earth sciences, said. “Fire counts/emissions over northwest region are gradually increasing but its impact on Delhi’s air quality is negligible due to unfavorable transport level wind flow,” it said.

The body has been calculating the contribution of stubble burning to Delhi’s PM 2.5 concentration each winter, and found that it reached a high of 48 per cent on November 7 last year.

While the number of residue-burning cases reported so far are about 30 percent of what it was last year, it is likely to shoot up in the coming days. According to experts the rise is due to delayed withdrawal of southwest monsoon, which forced farmers to delay their harvest.

Though its impact on air pollution levels isn’t pronounced mainly due to rains, the numbers could hold ominous signs for the days to come and is also a telling comment on the mitigation efforts adopted so far.

While residue burning begins in late September itself, it picks up pace in the latter half of October.

The first and second weeks of November are the worst. The burning events subside by November-end.

Though from last year, Punjab has seen a decline of 10 per cent in the stubble burning events when compared to the last two days it has increased 950 per cent from 2021.

According to the Air Quality and Weather Bulletin for Delhi NCR on Wednesday the overall air quality over Delhi is likely to remain in ‘Poor’ category till Friday. The air quality is likely to deteriorate and reach the ‘Very Poor’ category on Saturday. The outlook for subsequent six days is largely in the ‘Very Poor’ category.

Meanwhile, in a related development, the agriculture ministry has come down heavily on Punjab for failing to control incidents of stubble burning in the state.

At an inter-ministerial meeting on the issue of crop residue burning in Delhi-NCR held today, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav expressed concern that the Punjab government has not been able to take coordinated actions to contain farm fires in the state.

Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar mentioned that the status of paddy straw management in Haryana is "significantly better than that in Punjab", the environment ministry said in a statement.

"Till October 15, the trend of fire events was less as compared to last year but now it has started growing rapidly, especially in Punjab," the statement read.

The ministers noted that the Pusa bio-decomposer - a microbial solution which turns stubble into manure in 15-20 days - was being sprayed in a lesser area in Punjab and its application needs to be promoted and enhanced.

The Punjab chief secretary was asked to control the increasing rate of fire events in Amritsar and to ensure a 50 per cent reduction in cases of farm fires in the state in comparison to last year.

It was mentioned in the meeting that one of the main concerns is the delayed delivery of crop residue management machines in Punjab and Haryana.

Along with unfavourable meteorological conditions, paddy straw burning in adjoining states is a major reason behind the alarming spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November. Farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue before cultivating wheat and vegetables.

Government data shows Punjab and Haryana generate around 27 million tonnes of paddy straw a year, of which around 6.4 million tonnes is not managed. (with inputs from Sanjeeb Mukherjee)

Burst crackers, spend six months in jail and pay Rs 200 penalty

Bursting of firecrackers on Diwali in Delhi will attract jail term up to six months and a fine of Rs 200, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Wednesday. Production, storage and sale of firecrackers in the capital will be punishable with a fine of up to Rs 5,000 and three years jail under Section 9B of the Explosives Act, the minister told a press conference here.

In September, the city government re-imposed a complete ban on the production, sale and use of all types of firecrackers till January 1, including on Diwali, a practice it has been following for the last two years. Rai said a public awareness campaign -- Diye Jalao Patakhe Nahi (light diyas, not firecrackers) -- will be launched on October 21.

"The purchase and bursting of firecrackers in Delhi will be punishable with a fine of Rs 200 and six months in jail under the Indian Penal Code," the minister said. Rai said 408 teams have been set up to implement the ban.

The Delhi Police has set up 210 teams under assistant commissioners of police, while the Revenue Department has constituted 165 teams and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee 33.