Punjab records over 100 farm fires; Haryana's air quality 'moderate'

Punjab on Saturday reported 104 farm fires, taking the total number of stubble-burning incidents to 23,730 while air quality indices in Haryana and the border state were in 'satisfactory' and 'moderate' categories.

The fresh figure of farm fires in Punjab was much lower than what the state was witnessing a few days ago.

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

Only six cases of stubble burning were reported in Punjab on Friday as rains lashed many parts of the state.

Out of 105 stubble-burning incidents reported on Saturday, crop residue burning was seen in only 10 districts in Punjab.

Sangrur district topped with 43 cases, followed by 22 in Mansa, 13 in Fazilka, eight in Fatehgarh Sahib, four each in Ludhiana and Muktsar, three each in Malerkotla, Patiala and Bathinda and one in Ferozepur, according to Ludhiana-based Punjab Remote Sensing Centre data.

On the same day in 2021 and 2022, the state had seen 4,156 and 3,916 fires respectively.

Out of a total of 23,730 farm fires recorded from September 15 till November 11, Sangrur is leading with maximum stubble burning cases of 4,249, followed by 2,260 in Ferozepur, 1,908 in Tarn Taran, 1,837 in Mansa, 1,556 in Patiala and 1,459 in Amritsar.

The total number of 23,730 farm fires this season was 42 per cent less than the 40,677 registered in the corresponding period of last year, as per the data.

The state had reported 47,409 farm fires during the same period in 2021.

Meanwhile, there was an improvement in air quality in Haryana and Punjab as both states have been seeing AQI in 'very poor' and 'severe' categories.

Haryana's Gurugram reported an air quality index (AQI) of 198, followed by 167 in Faridabad, 124 in Panipat, 109 in Bhiwani, 88 in Sonipat, 81 in Kaithal, 73 in Rohtak, 70 each in Sirsa and Jind and 68 in Fatehabad.

In Punjab, Mandi Gobindgarh reported AQI at 147, followed by 111 in Amritsar, 60 in Bathinda, 55 in Jalandhar, 45 in Ludhiana and 49 in Khanna.

Union Territory Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, saw an AQI of 110.

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'.