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After police sound red alert, Punjab records dip in stubble burning cases

In the last five days, the state has received reports of 8,202 farm fires. Tuesday saw 1,776 cases of stubble burning in the state, Monday saw 1,624 cases, and Sunday saw 987 cases (Diwali)

SNS | Chandigarh | November 17, 2023 6:56 pm

After police sound red alert, Punjab records dip in stubble burning cases

Brazilian Neri dos Santos, 48, looks at a fire at the farm where he works in Nova Santa Helena municipality, Mato Grosso state, in the Amazon basin, Brazil, on August 23, 2019. President Jair Bolsonaro authorized Friday the deployment of Brazil's armed forces to help combat fires raging in the Amazon rainforest, as a growing global outcry over the blazes sparks protests and threatens a huge trade deal. (Joao LAET / AFP)

A day after Punjab Police declared a statewide red alert and threatened to take legal action against anyone caught engaging in stubble burning, the state saw 1,271 farm fire cases, a decrease of 1273. The burning of crop residue can attract legal action against violators.

Thursday saw 2,544 farm fire incidents reported, which is the second-highest number for a single day this season. With the additional cases, there are now 31,932 farm fires reported overall. In contrast, 46,822 cases of stubble burning were reported during the same period in 2022—a 32% decrease from the previous year.

In the last five days, the state has received reports of 8,202 farm fires. Tuesday saw 1,776 cases of stubble burning in the state, Monday saw 1,624 cases, and Sunday saw 987 cases (Diwali). On November 5, the greatest number of farm fires (3,230) were reported. With 237 stubble burning incidents, Moga was the district with the highest number, followed by Bathinda (170 farm fires), Barnala 145, Sangrur 129, Ferozepur 77, and Faridkot 113. With an AQI of 367, Bathinda is still the state’s most polluted city.

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The air quality index (AQI) in Delhi reached 401 on Wednesday.

The Punjab government was compelled to enact stringent regulations against stubble burning as a result of the Supreme Court’s stern response to air pollution in Delhi and the rest of North India. But the measures have made things more difficult for Punjab farmers. Disappointed with the punitive measures regarding stubble burning, several Punjabi farmer unions declared that they would stage protests in the state on November 20.

The Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan governments were urged by the apex court to ensure that crop residue burning was stopped “forthwith” on November 7. The court stated that it could not allow “people to die” as a result of pollution

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