Team of 22 scientists to check farm fires

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has deployed a flying squad of 22 scientists in Punjab to monitor and curb farm fires. The decision follows a review meeting with the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) and the Agriculture Department.

Officials said the period between October 15 and November 15 would be the “most crucial” as it would witness bulk of paddy harvesting. Incidents of stubble burning were also expected to go up during that period. Punjab has already reported 95 farm fire cases till September 30.

The scientists will conduct surprise field surveys, coordinate with the PPCB, Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) and the Agriculture Department, and assess the impact of farm fires on regional air pollution. Mid-October poses additional risk as still conditions prevailing at that time lead to trapping of smoke and dust, thereby worsening the air quality.

Based on three years of data, Punjab has identified 663 hotspot villages across eight districts — Sangrur, Ferozepur, Bathinda, Moga, Barnala, Mansa, Tarn Taran and Faridkot. Patiala and Ludhiana, which also used to rank among the top polluted districts, have shown some improvement in the recent years. These eight districts accounted for 6,815 of the 10,909 farm fires reported in 2024, nearly two-thirds of the state’s total.

To check the practice, Punjab has formed a “parali protection force” of about 8,000 personnel, including 5,000 nodal officers, 1,500 cluster coordinators and 1,200 field offices across 11,624 villages. The team verifies incidents and files daily updates via the action taken report (ATR) app developed by the PPCB and the PRSC.

“We have seen a spurt in farm fires in Amritsar due to early harvest of potato and vegetable sowing. In the coming days, Malwa region will see a rise as the crop matures,” a PPCB expert said.