BATHINDA: As many as 48 days into crop residue burning, the count has surpassed last three years with a record 6,318 incident reported on Saturday, taking the count close at 59,288. This despite the fact that a lot of crop residue management (CRM) machinery has been arranged, the Supreme Court has taken serious note of the issue and the Union government has formed a commission to tackle air pollution, proposing heavy fines up to Rs 1 crore and imprisonment of up to five years for spreading pollution.
Against 59,288 burning cases recorded so far in the ongoing year, 55,210 incident were recorded in 2019, these were 50,590 in 2018 and 45,384 in 2017.
With 7,830 burning events so far this year, Sangrur district has surpassed the number of burning cases in last three years.
The air quality in Punjab too remained impacted with Amritsar recorded PM 2.5 at 260, Bathinda at 103, Jalandhar 226, Khanna 172, Ludhiana 197, Patiala 262 and Roopnagar 216.