Only 16 farm fires in Jalandhar, yet AQI remains 'very poor'

Despite reporting only 16 farm fires, Jalandhar’s air quality remains in the 'very poor' category post-Diwali. It was 307 today. A week after the festival, Kapurthala has emerged as the stubble burning hotspot in Doaba, logging nearly twice as many cases as Jalandhar.

As many as 35 stubble burning cases have been reported in Kapurthala. Meanwhile, Nawanshahr and Hoshiarpur have only seen three cases each so far. In Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts, a significant increase in stubble fires has been registered post-Diwali.

Meanwhile, in Jalandhar, despite the total number of stubble fires being only 16, the air quality has consistently been bad.

While the city touched a maximum AQI of 500 on October 20 and 21; the AQI levels are marginally down but still concerning.

On October 25, Jalandhar registered a maximum AQI of 344 (average AQI was 141) and on October 26, the city's maximum AQI was 419. During the filing of this report on October 27, the city's maximum AQI was at 307 (average AQI was 192).

An AQI of over 300 is considered very poor and that over 400 severe.

The city's AQI goes bad in the wee hours with particulate matter causing irritation, bad throat, and in some areas, watery eyes reported by the residents.

At Jalandhar, a week after Diwali, there has been a marginal rise in the stubble burning cases. As many as 16 stubble fires have been reported in Jalandhar - 3 pre-Diwali and 13 post-Diwali. Seven FIRs have been registered in Jalandhar against farmers.

Apart from this, red entries have been made in nine of the cases and warning notices issued to six farmers.

Before Diwali, only three stubble fires were reported in Jalandhar (2 on October 17 and one on October 18). The maximum stubble fires recorded in a single day in the district this paddy harvest season were four on October 25. Barring this, one stubble fire was reported on October 21; two each on October 24 and 26 and three today.

Many cases of stubble fires have been reported from the Shahkot subdivision.

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FIRs

The first stubble FIR in Jalandhar was registered against a Lohian-based farmer Raj Kumar, who was booked under Section 223 of the BNS on September 24 at Kang Khurd village at Lohian Khas. The second FIR has been lodged against Satpal Singh, a farmer from the village Gatta Mundi Kasu, on October 26.

Similarly, cases have also been registered against farmers at Shahkot and Mehtapur police stations.

Kapurthala

Of the 35 stubble fire cases at Kapurthala, six were reported pre-Diwali and 29 post-Diwali.

The past two days have seen 13 fires, - seven reported yesterday and six today.