Farm fires see sudden dip in Punjab
Patiala, November 14
Farm fires in the state saw a sudden dip today as only four cases were reported on Monday. These are the lowest stubble-burning incidents in the current kharif season. The state had reported 2,175 cases on Sunday.
Whereas on the same day (November 14) in the year 2020, 352 active fire events were captured by a satellite, in the year 2021 there were 2,541 active fire incidents in the state. Of the four fire incidents in the state today, Mansa reported two while Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib reported one case each.
As per the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, Ludhiana, the state has already reported 45,323 farm fires this season so far. Interestingly, the CM’s home district, Sangrur reported maximum 5,186 farm fires followed by Ferozepur with 4,008 cases until November 14.
Notably, Punjab had reported 71,304 farm fire cases in the last kharif season (September 15 to November 30, 2021) while the state count was 76,590 in 2020.
When asked about the low figures, Krunesh Garg, member-secretary, Punjab Pollution Control Board, said, “Farm fire number, as of today, could be low because the weather was cloudy throughout the state. This might have created a screen and prevented counting of exact fire incidents by the satellite. However, total farm fire cases this year have declined as compared to previous years.”
