Commission for Air Quality Management holds meet with Punjab, Haryana authorities over rising cases of stubble-burning

Amidst reports of rising incidents of stubble-burning, especially during the evening in the region, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) is holding a crucial stakeholder meeting with the officials and pollution control board authorities of both Punjab and Haryana at Kisan Bhawan in Chandigarh today.

The meeting is being carried out as a virtual cat-and-mouse game is played out between stubble-burning monitoring agencies and farmers in Punjab.

The Indian Agricultural Research Institute’s Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space starts tracking farm fires from September 15. The visible imaging radiometer suites (VIIRS) installed on Suomi NPP and MODIS Aqua satellites capture these images of farm fires as they pass over the region during the afternoon and midnight.

Aware of this surveillance window, farmers have been lighting up fires in the late evening to evade detection.

For nearly three years, this tactic helped them hoodwink the monitoring system that relies heavily on satellite imagery. However, this year, agencies have tweaked their tracking method — instead of counting farm fires, they are now mapping and recording the total burnt area, sharing this data with pollution control authorities for action.

Dr Vinay Sehgal, Principal Scientist and Professor at the Division of Agricultural Physics at CREAMS Laboratory, Delhi, said,” These satellites cross the region’s pathway during the late afternoon. There is a window between 3.30 pm and around 7.30 pm. And during this period, the farm fires are being witnessed. But we have also found a way. Besides overseeing the fires, we are also mapping the burnt area. So even if the fire was doused, we still get images of the fields where residue was burnt.”

Sources said that this data is further shared with the local authorities and field officers are asked to visit the location before the field is ploughed.  

On the other hand, there seems to be no let-up in stubble-burning across Punjab. A day after the state recorded this season’s peak of 283 farm fire incidents, another 202 fresh cases were reported on Thursday, taking the total count to 1,418 since September 15.

Officials of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) said that farm fire incidents had spiked sharply after Diwali, with as many as 1,210 cases (85 per cent) reported in the past 12 days — between October 18 and 30.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s home district Sangrur continues to top the list with 48 fresh cases, followed by bypoll-bound Tarn Taran (34), Ferozepur (32), Bathinda (16), Amritsar and Muktsar (13 each). In cumulative terms, Tarn Taran (330), Sangrur (218), Amritsar (186), and Ferozepur (155) account for the bulk of the state’s farm fire cases so far.

Cracking down on violators, the PPCB has registered 135 FIRs and made 156 red entries since October 25. In total, 376 FIRs and 432 red entries have been filed this season. The authorities have also imposed environmental compensation worth over Rs 24 lakh, of which over Rs 15 lakh has been recovered so far.

Pollution control agencies monitor stubble-burning from September 15 to November 30, when paddy harvesting and residue burning peak across the agrarian belt. Despite repeated government appeals, farmers continue to defy the ban, citing high costs and logistical hurdles in managing crop residue.

Adding to the crisis, incidents of garbage and dry leaves being set ablaze in urban areas are also on the rise — many of them going unchecked even in the presence of local civic staff. Ironically, the burning of dry leaves and garbage was witnessed at Punjabi Bhasha Vibhag in Patiala, which is preparing to celebrate Punjabi Month.

Meanwhile, the Public Action Committee (PAC), a local civic group working for environmental protection, has lodged a complaint with the PPCB after spotting similar instances of open garbage burning in residential areas.

Despite growing pollution levels and repeated violations, enforcement remains weak, with environmental activists warning that unchecked burning of stubble and waste could worsen the state’s air quality in the coming weeks.