Punjab AQI gradually shifts to poor as stubble burning gathers pace

PATIALA: As paddy harvesting is picks up pace in Punjab, the ambient air quality has started showing a gradual shift from satisfactory to poor at continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations at various locations in the state.


Till a few days ago, the ambient air quality index (AQI) recorded at seven stations had been reflecting a satisfactory reading.

However, on Sunday, the CAQMS at Amritsar showed an AQI reading of 230 micrograms/m3, which is in poor category. Similarly, Jalandhar had a reading of 202 micrograms/m3, while Patiala with an AQI of 150 micrograms/m3, Bathinda with an AQI of 102 micrograms/m3 and Khanna with 124 micrograms/m3 AQI were in the moderate category. The CAQMS at Mandi Gobindgarh and Ropar could not collect sufficient data to compute the AQI for Sunday.


According to the senior officials at the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), harvesting in most parts of the state was delayed by over 10 days due to the recent rains that had added moisture content in the soil and the standing crop making it difficult for the combine harvesters to mow it down.

During the corresponding period last year, the reading at the Amritsar CAMQS was 213 micrograms/m3, at Ludhiana 305 micrograms/m3 in the very poor category and at Mandi Gobindgarh it was 170 micrograms/m3. The other CAQMS had not become operational during the said period.

However, by October 22 last year, the AQI had risen to 337 microgram/m3 at Amritsar, 350 microgram/m3 at Ludhiana and 376 microgram/m3 in the industrial cluster of Mandi Gobindgarh.

According to the PPCB, there has been a slight fall in the instance of stubble burning this year compared to 2017. But, there is hardly a reason to cheer, said a top official, who did not wish to be named.

He said harvesting is yet to reach its peak and the number of paddy straw management equipment dispatched across the state is far less than the total requirement. While the state needs more than 24,000, only 13,290 machines have been provided to farmers through customer-hiring centres, cooperative societies and farmers. To top it all, farmers are still unwilling to adopt these practices due to the cost of labour and diesel which is to be paid by them, the official said.

The data shows that a total of 879 cases of stubble fire were reported in Punjab till Saturday and 2,093 cases were reported on the corresponding date last year. Satellite imagery shows that till now most of the cases of stubble burning have been reported in the western districts of Amritsar and Tarn Taran.

KS Pannu, the former PPCB chairman and the state nodal officer to check stubble burning said the government has intensified efforts to combat stubble burning. Other than launching three mobile apps aimed at checking crop residue burning and creating awareness about its ill-effects, a coordinated effort was being made amongst the various government agencies to deal with the situation, he said.

However, the state has a mechanism to utilise on only 21.82% of the total paddy straw which will be generated this year. Additional chief secretary (development) Viswajeet Khanna said the state is expecting straw generation of around 20 million tonnes from paddy grown over 65 lakh acres.

While the state can manage and utilise 4.3 million tonnes of straw, the rest is likely to be set on fire.