About 2,000 instances of stubble burning recorded in Haryana, Punjab this year: CPCB

Nearly 2,000 instances of stubble burning were recorded this year in Haryana and Punjab, with highest occurrences in Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Patiala, Karnal, Kaithal and Kurukshetra, the Central Pollution Control Board said on Friday.

According to the CPCB data, a total of 3,202 active fire events have been recorded in Haryana and Punjab in 2019 against 2,544 such incidents in 2018.

"In Haryana, 1,631 stubble burning instances have been reported in 2019 till now while in Punjab 1,571 such case were recorded," the CPCB data showed.

Stubble burning significantly contributes to increasing pollution in the national capital.

A senior CPCB official said presently about 7 per cent pollution in Delhi is caused due to stubble burning in surrounding states.

"However, depending upon the wind speed and direction, its contribution might increase in the coming days," he said.

The data given by the CPCB showed that in Punjab this year the top three areas where highest number of instances of stubble burning was recorded were Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Patiala.

Amritsar recorded 452 instances, Tarn Taran 346 and Patiala witnessed 180 cases, it said.

In Haryana, the top three areas where highest number of instances of stubble burning were recorded were Karnal, Kaithal and Kurukshetra, the data said.

In Karnal, 404 instances were observed while in Kaithal 323 incidents were observed and in Kurukshetra 284 active fire incidents were observed, the data showed.

The CPCB also gave data from 2018 when a total of 2016 active fire events were recorded from Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Patiala, Karnal, Kaithal and Kurukshetra.