Stubble burning in Raj rose by 160% last month, says Centre

Jaipur: The Centre on Monday said that air pollution-related stubble-burning cases have witnessed a 160% rise in Rajasthan and 20% in Punjab this October as compared to the same month last year.
Quoting the India Meteorological Department and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology under the aegis of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr Jitendra Singh said, “There was 160% and 20% rise in cases of stubble burning in Rajasthan in October 2022 compared to October 2021.”
According to the Ministry of Earth Science, the Union minister also raised an alarm as Delhi recorded seven “very poor” air quality days in October compared to none in October 2021.
He said the farm fires in Punjab rose from 13,269 to 16,004 from October 2021 to October 2022 recording a rise of 20%, while in Rajasthan, it rose from 124 to 318 from October 2021 to October 2022 recording a rise of 160%.
“This implies that the governments in the two states are not doing enough to check stubble burning and are, on the contrary, increasingly contributing to the deteriorating air quality in Delhi NCR,” the Union minister said.
The minister, who is also in-charge of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Ministry of Earth Sciences, said that on the other hand, states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have recorded a progressive decline in the incidents of stubble fire burning.
“Such inferences indicate that either the governments in Rajasthan and Punjab are not serious about air quality or they have not properly utilized the funds which were provided by the Narendra Modi government to purchase machines for stubble management,” he said.
Singh pointed out that since 2018-19, on the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Centre has provided Rs 3,138 crore to states for stubble management, out of which nearly Rs 1,500 crore was provided to Punjab alone.
“Haryana witnessed 1,995 fire counts in October 2022 as compared to 2,914 in October 2021. Similarly, UP registered 768 fire counts this October, compared to 1,060 cases in October 2021,” said Singh.
The minister said in the first five days of November, the number of fire counts was much higher in Punjab than Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
“For example, on November 5, the number of fire counts in Punjab was 2,817 and in Rajasthan 91 respectively compared to 90 in Haryana and 24 in Uttar Pradesh respectively. The highest fire count on any single day was recorded on November 2, when Punjab topped with 3,634 farm fire incidents and the number in Rajasthan recorded up to 63,” he explained.
Singh said the abnormal rise in cases of stubble burning in Punjab in the first five days of November is solely responsible for plunging the air quality in the severe category.
He said Punjab registered 13,396 fire counts from November 1 to 5, while it was 16,004 for the entire month of October 2022.(With agency inputs)