Punjab: Current air quality worse than on Diwali night, says report

The Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), Ludhiana, has also reported 37, 263 stubble burning cases and out of these, nearly 25,000 fire incidents have taken place in the past 9 days, from October 28 onwards.

Written by Raakhi Jagga | Ludhiana | Updated: November 7, 2017 4:42 am
Punjab air pollution, Punjab air quality, Punjab stubble burning, Punjab smog, punjab news, indian express news A blanket of smog in Ludhiana Monday. (Express photo: Gurmeet Singh)

According to reports by the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), the average air quality index (AQI) of Punjab was 340 Monday against 328 on Diwali night. The Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), Ludhiana, has also reported 37, 263 stubble burning cases and out of these, nearly 25,000 fire incidents have taken place in the past 9 days, from October 28 onwards.

As per PRSC data, while only 145 cases of stubble burning had been reported on October 10, the number increased to 4,446 on November 4.

City wise, AQI of Ludhiana was the highest across Punjab at 351 followed by Mandi in Gobindgarh at 349. The air quality index of Amritsar was at 319.

Meanwhile, a rise in field fires were observed after Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s statement that no FIR would be lodged against farmers for stubble burning.