New Delhi, (Samajweekly) Punjab has topped with 49,922 crop residue burning incidents during the period between September 15 and November 30 this year. However, the state has recorded nearly 30 per cent decline in crop residue burning incidents this year as compared with the respective period of the last year.
However, as per the figures based on Standard ISRO Protocol for monitoring paddy crop residue burning events, the total paddy crop residue burning events during the above period in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and NCR districts of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have come down from 78,550 in 2021 to 53,792 in 2022, reflecting a reduction of 31.5 per cent.
The Central government, under its CRM Scheme, has released more than Rs 3,062 crore, to the government of Punjab, NCR state governments and GNCTD during the five-year period from 2018-19 to 2022-23 towards effective management of stubble in the region. Of the total releases, more than Rs 1,426 crore has been released to Punjab.
As per the Environment Ministry, the total crop residue burning events in Haryana have come down from 6,987 in 2021 to 3,661 in 2022, with a reduction of 47.60 per cent as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
Similarly, total crop residue burning events in Punjab have come down from 71,304 in 2021 to 49,922 in 2022, with a reduction of 29.99 per cent.
The total crop residue burning events in the NCR districts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and NCT of Delhi have come down from 259 in 2021 to 209 in 2022, a reduction of 19.30 per cent as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
Out of 23 districts of Punjab, the five hotspot districts with maximum number of crop burning events during the current year are Sangrur, Bhatinda, Firozpur, Muktsar and Moga, recording a total of 21,882 fire counts, which is 43.83 per cent of total fire counts during current year.
Only one district reported more than 5,000 fire counts during the current year. In comparison, in 2021, five districts of Punjab reported more than 5,000 fire counts totalling 32,053 contributing to 44.95 per cent of fire counts.
Though there is an overall reduction in the area monitored, 2 districts of Punjab (Bhatinda and Fazilka); 1 NCR District of UP (Bulandshahr); and one district of Haryana (Yamuna Nagar) have reported significantly higher number of farm fire counts as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
Maximum contribution of farm fires to the daily PM2.5 levels in Delhi was 34 per cent in the current year (on November 3) as against 48 per cent last year (on November 7).
The daily Average AQI of Delhi in November, 2022 registered an improvement at 320.60 as compared to 376.50 in November 2021, i.e., a reduction of about 56 points.
