Chandigarh: With the end of the monsoon season, the farmers of Punjab have started setting fire to the stubble after picking up the paddy crop. This is the reason that in the case of stubble burning, Punjab has come first in the beginning, while Uttar Pradesh is in second place and Haryana is in third.
In three days till Sunday, 193 cases of stubble burning were reported in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Among these, Punjab is at number one in burning stubble.
AAP government’s efforts failed
Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal extended the deadline for applications for subsidy on Happy Seeder machines to check stubble burning. He talked about sprinkling of decomposer solution in 5000 acres under the pilot project of the Agriculture Department to absorb the stubble in the soil. The agriculture department canceled the leave of the employees, but all the preparations of the state government have proved insufficient.
Incidents of stubble burning started being registered before September 18. 56 incidents of stubble burning were reported on 21 September and 30 on 22 September. This was followed by good rains over North India due to a Western Disturbance and a low air pressure area over Madhya Pradesh.
Due to this the fields were flooded and the incidents of stubble burning were stopped due to moisture, but as soon as the fields dried up, the incidents of stubble burning started increasing rapidly.
IARI did real time monitoring
According to the real-time monitoring of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), no incidents of stubble burning were reported in the fields of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana from 23 to 29 September, but the highest number of 136 cases were reported in Punjab when the fields were dry. 49 cases were reported in Uttar Pradesh and 8 cases in Haryana.
Data of stubble burnt in three days
30 September
Punjab – 8
Uttar Pradesh – 10
Haryana – none
1 October
Punjab- 45
Uttar Pradesh – 3
Haryana- 1
2 October
Punjab- 83
Uttar Pradesh- 36
Haryana- 7