Farm fires in Punjab declined by 85% since 2021, minister in LS

Incidents of stubble burning in Punjab have declined by nearly 85% since 2021, the Environment Ministry told the Lok Sabha on Monday. Despite this significant drop, Punjab alone recorded 10,909 cases of stubble burning last year, underscoring the persistent challenges in curbing the practice. Meanwhile, Haryana recorded a drop of nearly 80% cases.

The government was responding to a question by Haryana Congress MP Kumari Selja, who sought details on the main contributors to air pollution in northern India. In a written reply, Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh said air pollution in the Delhi-NCR was the result of a combination of factors, including vehicular emissions, industrial pollution, road and construction dust, biomass burning and municipal solid waste burning.

Stubble burning by farmers, he said, remained one of the key reasons for the annual spike in pollution levels during the winter months, especially in October and November.

According to data shared in Parliament, stubble burning incidents in Punjab dropped from 71,304 in 2021 to 10,909 in 2024, marking a reduction of nearly 85%. In Haryana, the number fell from 6,987 in 2021 to 1,406 in 2024, amounting to a decline of almost 80%. The sharp decrease has been attributed to a combination of stricter enforcement, expanded access to machinery for crop residue management, and new policy interventions.

The government has implemented a range of measures over recent years. A comprehensive framework was drawn up by the Commission for Air Quality Management, in consultation with state governments and scientific bodies like ISRO and ICAR. Under the initiative, states were asked to prepare detailed action plans targeting crop residue burning. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare launched a scheme in 2018 to subsidise machinery for in-situ management of paddy straw.