Barring two districts, Majha and Doaba show Sharp Decline in Paddy Straw Fires

Majority of Farmers of Punjab, have responded positively

Spokesman News Service: Chandigarh, November 26: Majority of Farmers of Punjab, have responded positively to the appeal of Punjab Govt. not to burn paddy residue, reveal the data of Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, Ludhiana. Additional Chief Secretary (Development) Vishwajeet Khanna informed that the Farmers of Majha and Doaba region of Punjab, barring districts of Amritsar and Tarn Taran, have drastically reduced the incidents of paddy residue burning as compared to last year.

He profusely thanked the farmers for help in saving the environment, soil and human health, as the Air Quality in Punjab has remained much better this year compared to previous years Ropar has shown the largest decline of 60% in crop burning cases this year as compared to last year, followed by 53% decline in SBS Nagar.

Similarly, the decline in farm fires was witnessed in Hoshiarpur (-45%), Kapurthala (-41%), Fatehgarh Sahib (-33%), Ludhiana (-26%), Pathankot (25%), Jalandhar (-22%), Gurdaspur (-14%), SAS Nagar (-14%), Sangrur and Patiala (-2%). The trend of higher incidents of farm fires was mainly witnessed in South Punjab. Highest farm fires without any decline were seen in Bathinda District (5341), followed by Ferozepur (4895), Sri Muktsar Sahib (4721), Mansa (3578), Moga (3202) and Barnala (2688). 

Although small decline was observed in stubble burning in district Sangrur and Patiala but the number of farm fires were highest in Sangrur (6828) and was substantial in Patiala (3780). Together these eight districts contributed about 75% of farm fires in Punjab. This was mainly attributable to end September heavy rains in the area.