Punjab logs 637 farm fires, Moga tops with 120

Tribune News Service

Patiala, November 18

As the paddy harvesting season is drawing towards the end, the state has started witnessing a decline in the number of farm fires. As many as 637 farm fires were reported across the state on Saturday. At 120, Moga logged the maximum incidents.

The total farm fire count has reached 33,719. After five days, the number of farm fires across the state has declined below 1,000 on Saturday.

The state witnessed a second spike in fire farms incidents after Diwali. The closing of mandis at certain locations across Punjab and ideal period — November 1 to November 20 — for sowing of wheat crop drawing towards the end have caused panic among farmers, triggering the latest spike in farm fires.

The police also swung into action and sounded a red alert across the state announcing to initiate legal action against all those involved in stubble burning.

Besides Moga reporting 120 incidents, Fazilka reported 111 farm fires, Ferozepur 69, Bathinda 57 cases, Muktsar 51, Barnala 48, Faridkot 43, Sangrur 39, Ludhiana 23, Tarn Taran 15, Mansa 13, Jalandhar 11, Patiala 10, Kapurthala and Malerkotla each witnessed eight cases. Four paddy residue burning incidents were reported from Amritsar and three cases were reported in Fatehgarh Sahib. Hoshiarpur and SBS Nagar each reported two cases of stubble burning.

The fresh cases have taken the total count of farm fires to 33,719, 31 per cent less as compared to last year. As many as 48,489 cases of stubble burning were reported during the corresponding period in 2022.

Bathinda continues to remain the most polluted city of the state with an average AQI of 319 followed by Jalandhar 263, Ludhiana 217, Patiala 213, Khanna 200 and Amritsar 197.

#Agriculture #Environment #Farm Fires #Moga #Pollution