Punjab reports 54% drop in stubble burning; Tarn Taran overtakes Sangrur

Even as Delhi continues to reel under toxic smog, Punjab farmers — often blamed in the past for choking the Capital with paddy-residue smoke — have a rare reason to smile.

The state has recorded a sharp fall in stubble-burning cases this kharif season, reporting 5,114 farm fires, a 54% drop from the last year.

Data from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) shows stubble-burning cases have fallen 70% over two years, dropping from 36,663 in 2023 and 49,922 in 2022 to this year’s improved figures.

A major contribution to the turnaround is the state-run 8,000 strong personnel — including 5,000 nodal officers, 1,500 cluster coordinators and 1,200 field officers — spread across 11,624 villages. They verify incidents and upload updates on a dedicated Action Taken Report (ATR) app developed by the PPCB and Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PSRC).

Besides, 31 scientists from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) were also monitoring the situation on the ground.

The largest positive shift has happened in CM Bhagwant Mann’s Sangrur district. The district, otherwise the state’s worst performer for recording the highest number of stubble burning cases, reported 5,916 cases in 2022, 5,618 in 2023 and 1,724 last year.

This year, Sangrur district recorded 695 cases, while Tarn Taran recorded 696 cases.

The state saw its peak fire days on November 1 (442 cases) and November 9 (440 cases). The 76-day-long stubble burning season begins from September 15 and ends on November 30.

To curb the menace, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) deployed a team of 22 scientists across Punjab after reviewing the situation with the PPCB, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) and the Agriculture Department. Officials said October 15-November 15 remains the most crucial window every year, accounting for the majority of residue burning after paddy harvest. Balbir Singh Rajewal, who spearheaded the 2019–20 Kisan Andolan, believes that farmers were being wrongly blamed for the pollution in Delhi. “Look we are in the middle of December. The farm fire season is long over. Wheat seeds have already sprouted and the AQI in Delhi is hovering between 300 and 400. So, the claim that famers were causing pollution in Delhi and the NCR has fallen flat.”

“There will be no stubble burning if a direct benefit of Rs 300 per quintal is transferred into the bank accounts of farmers for stubble management. But no government wishes to do that. Machines cost around Rs1 lakh or even more after subsidy and are used only for a few days in a year, which is an extra burden for small farmers with small land holding of 3 to 5 acres. Why not provide an incentive and let farmers manage the residue themselves?” said Rajewal.

“All departments worked in coordination — from providing crop residue management (CRM) machinery to enforcement on the ground,” said Reena Gupta, Chairman, PPCB, adding that the sharp decline was achieved through in-situ and ex-situ residue management, crop diversification and the deployment of the Parali Protection Force. Punjab produces nearly 19 million tonnes of stubble every year, of which non-basmati varieties make up around 16 million tonnes. To promote in-situ management, the Agriculture Department sanctioned 21,958 Crop Residue Management machines this year, with 14,587 already procured.

Sharp decline in fines, FIRs

Environmental fines and legal action also fell by nearly 50% this year. The PPCB imposed Rs 1.25 crore as environmental compensation in 2,386 cases, compared to Rs 2.14 crore last year. The department has recovered Rs 65 lakh so far. The police registered 1,963 FIRs under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) across multiple districts, including 217 in Ferozepur, 207 in Sangrur, 190 in Moga, 172 in Patiala, 135 in Tarn Taran and 129 each in Bathinda and Mansa. The Revenue Department made 2,176 red entries in land records of violators, barring them from loans, land sale/mortgage and gun licences.

ISRO study says otherwise

The finding by a study “Evidence of shift in stubble burning timing over Northwest India from geostationary satellite observations”, carried out by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), however, hints at contradicting statistics. The study, which has collected the data between 2020 and 2024, suggests that farmers have shifted the peak stubble burning time from around 1.30 pm to approximately 5 pm.

This shift is believed to be a deliberate attempt to avoid detection by polar-orbiting satellites, which typically cross the equator between 10.30 am and 10.30 pm and 1.30 am and 1.30pm local time. Prof Ravindra Khaiwal, Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh, who also serves as nodal faculty officer at the Centre of Excellence on Climate Change and Air Pollution-Related Illness (Health Ministry), has a different take. He said there could be 20 per cent pilferage in the data.

“Yes, there was a rise in the incidents during this period, but to say that farmers from Punjab and Haryana were setting residue during this period is an exaggeration and by stating this we would be discoursing the sincere effort put in by farmers of Haryana and Punjab. Earlier, 18 cm-long paddy straw or stumps used to be set on fire, but with machines like super straw management system, popularly known as Super SMS, now even that problem is solved and in a majority of the areas, we are witnessing low-intensity burning,” said Khaiwal.