According to the data provided by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre based in Ludhiana, cases of farm fire crossed the mark of 30,000 as 2,487 fresh incidents of stubble burning were reported on Monday.
If the official data is to be believed, the cumulative farm fire cases, including surplus burning of fresh crops, reached a huge total of 32,486 between September 15 to November 7. The border state of Punjab reported 57,696 and 37,933 such incidents during the same season in the year 2020 and 2021 respectively.
Talking of the farm fire incidents reported on Monday, Ferozepur tops the list with over 350 crop residue burning cases, followed by Moga with 268 such incidents, Muktsar with 257, and Batala with 256 cases of stubble burning. Moreover, the data further shows 218 cases in Faridkot, 202 in Barnala, 180 in Sangrur, 177 in Fazilka, and 165 in Mansa, as quoted by the news agency PTI.
These very frequent incidents of stubble burning across Punjab have left the air quality of the state in 'moderate' categories in some places, and 'poor' in others. It also affected its neighbor Haryana as its air quality went down to worrisome levels - 'poor' and 'very poor' categories on Monday. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Faridabad's air quality index (AQI) indices to 337 on Monday.
Other major cities in Haryana too witnessed a fall in their AQI levels. Jind recorded an AQI of 323, Sonipat at 316, Kaithal at that 312, 290 in Gurugram, 272 in Manesar, 225 in Bahadurgarh, 216 in Panipat, and 167 in Fatehabad.
Why are farmers burning their farms?
Amid the worsening air pollution situation caused by the stubble burning practice at an extensive level, the question arises as to why farmers are setting their fields on fire despite a huge increase in the stubble management machines by the government.
Ahead of the preparations to sow the rabi crop in this season, farmers tend to clear their farms off the remaining paddy stubble by burning it. The method is being practiced by numerous farmers across various districts and states in northern India, contributing to an immense rise in pollution levels in the region every year.
To prevent the farmers from burning the fields, 30,000 additional crop management machines have been provided this year along with the existing 90,422 machines in Punjab, as per the data of the Punjab Pollution Control Board.
Yet, the rising incidents of farm firing suggest that the farmers still find the method to be more efficient as well as cost-effective, as buying or renting the crop residue machines lowers their cultivation profits. The crop management machinery including happy seeders, mulchers, and super-seeders is mostly brought by farmer groups or cooperative societies, who then rent these machines to small farmers. The central government provides a 50 percent subsidy on these machines to individual farmers and 80 percent to the farmer groups.
