28 new farm fires in Punjab, count crosses 500

Punjab on Thursday reported 28 cases of farm fire, taking the total count till date to 512.

In the past six days, the state has witnessed over 300 stubble-burning cases, reigniting debate over its impact on air quality.

The uptick began on October 18, when 33 incidents were reported, followed by 67 on October 19, 65 on October 20, and 62, 69, and 28 over the past three days, respectively. However, the state has witnessed 69 per cent decline in cumulative count when compared with the period from September 15 to October 23 last year. As many as 1,638 incidents were recorded in the same period last year.

Amritsar reported the highest seven cases on Thursday, followed by five in Tarn Taran. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s home district Sangrur recorded four cases while three each were reported from Ferozepur and Mansa.

Despite a dip in farm fires, the air quality index (AQI) stood in the “poor” category in parts of the state. Amritsar recorded an AQI of 206, Jalandhar 230, Ropar 205 and Ludhiana 241. Mandi Gobindgarh emerged as the most polluted town, with AQI levels touching 257. However, some improvement was observed in Patiala ( 121) and Bathinda (I 73). The AQI reading between 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’, and 401-500 ‘severe’.