Chandigarh: Stubble burning incidents crossed the 30,000 mark in two months in Punjab which reported 2,544 fresh farm fires on Wednesday (November 15), while air quality turned “severe” again in Delhi and was in ‘very poor’ category in neighbouring Haryana. Punjab had reported 67,020 and 45,464 stubble burning incidents in the corresponding period (September 15 to November 15) of 2021 and 2022 respectively. The crop residue burning incidents are on the upswing for the past few days.
Also Read: Farm Fires: Punjab Sounds Red Alert, Violators To Face Legal Action
Punjab had reported 639 such cases on November 9, six on November 10, 104 on November 11, 987 on November 12, 1,624 on November 13 and 1,776 on November 14.
Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is considered one of the reasons behind the alarming spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November.
Punjab on Wednesday reported 2,544 farm fires, taking the total number of such cases to 30,661 this season. Of these 2,544 farm fires, Bathinda witnessed maximum such cases at 356, followed by 318 in Moga, 264 in Barnala, 262 in Sangrur, 253 in Ferozepur, and 225 in Faridkot, according to Ludhiana-based Punjab Remote Sensing Centre data.
On the same day in 2021 and 2022, the state had seen 1,761 and 141 farm fires respectively.
The national capital’s 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI), recorded at 4 pm every day, stood at 401. It was 397 on Tuesday, 358 on Monday and 218 on Sunday and 220 on Saturday.
Also Read: “Stop Stubble Burning,” Directs Supreme Court To Several States As The Air Quality Becomes Poisonous
A system developed by the Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology to identify the contribution of different pollution sources showed stubble-burning accounted for 23 per cent of the air pollution in the capital on Wednesday.
Neighbouring Ghaziabad (378), Gurugram (297), Greater Noida (338), Noida (360) and Faridabad (390) also recorded very poor air quality.
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’, 401 and 450 ‘severe’ and above 450 ‘severe plus’.
Haryana’s Narnaul reported an air quality index (AQI) of 416 and Hisar 375.
In Punjab, Bathinda reported AQI at 361, followed by 280 in Mandi Gobindgarh, 238 in Patiala, 222 in Jalandhar, 163 in Amritsar, 162 in Ludhiana, 161 in Khanna and 153 in Rupnagar.
Union Territory Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, saw an AQI of 167.
Out of total 30,661 farm fires recorded from September 15 till November 15, Sangrur is leading with maximum stubble burning cases of 5,223, followed by 2,807 in Ferozepur, 2,417 in Bathinda, 2,146 in Mansa, 1,942 in Tarn Taran and 1,850 in Barnala.
Also Read: A Delhi Hospital Opens A Special Pollution OPD
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
