Stubble Protection Force to be set up ahead of paddy harvesting season

The Clean Air Punjab initiative’s first AirCare Centre, set up at Khalsa College for Women, has been actively engaging communities around air quality awareness and stubble burning prevention. Based on data sourced from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and other public datasets, the centre noted that cities across Punjab — particularly Amritsar, Ludhiana, and Jalandhar — exceeded safe levels of PM 2.5 and PM 10 during the first half of 2025.

Advertisement

The high particulate matter in the city’s air quality might not be a new development as Amritsar has been struggling to breathe easy, with its average air ambient quality recorded between 70 to 125 last month. The rains though brought respite with AQI recorded at 62 (good).

But Clean Air Punjab and the air care centre at Khalsa College for Women has been directing its efforts on pushing for sustainable disposal of stubble before the onset of winter, which is when AQI across the region touches dangerous levels.

“Air Care Centre Punjab is working to improve air quality through practical, community-driven solutions. We are supporting efforts to reduce stubble burning by engaging directly with farmers, understanding their challenges and encouraging crop diversification as a sustainable alternative. The focus is on enabling informed decision-making and fostering long-term change. We’re also involving young people in the clean air movement—through initiatives that promote sustainable transport, environmental education and community-led solutions,” shared Gurpreet Kaur, State Lead, Clean Air Punjab. 

The teams comprising students of environment sciences from Khalsa College for Women have been visiting villages across the district to conduct workshops and share scientific methods for disposal of crop stubble.

Despite Amritsar not being an industrial city, the air quality breach for PM 2.5 and PM 10 was recorded at an average of 44 µg/m and 90 µg/m, which is way above the WHO limit. While noting the seriousness of the situation, the Deputy Commissioner today convened a meeting and announced the formation of a Stubble Protection Force.

Ahead of the onset of the infamous ‘stubble season’, Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney, while holding a meeting with officials to prevent incidents of stubble burning in the upcoming paddy season, directed that a Stubble Protection Force be formed to prevent stubble fire in the district, which would work to prevent fire incidents up to the level of each village.

The DC said that efforts to prevent burning of stubble during the season can be successful only if the units that use the stubble, use it properly. “Our efforts are to provide maximum places to store stubble during the upcoming paddy season. We have asked the Chief Agriculture Officer to set up a call centre to prevent fire incidents, from where information about the machines to be provided to the farmers can be provided. Farmer awareness camps should be set up in every village and they should be made aware of the harm caused by burning stubble,” she said.

The Deputy Commissioner directed all the SDMs to hold meetings with farmers at the village level and explain that due to fire, many types of diseases spread and friendly insects of the earth also get destroyed, which makes a big difference in crop yield.

Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO) Baljinder Singh Bhullar said that 4,316 machines, including Super Seeder, Happy Seeder, Smart Seeder, Mulcher, Baler and reversing solutions have been provided to the farmers and more machines will be provided. He said that two Super Seeder and 17 Zero-Till Drill machines have also been provided to the small and marginal farmers at the block level. The Agriculture Officer said that 187 farmer awareness camps will be set up in the district where farmers will be made aware about the losses caused by stubble fire.