PATIALA: Punjab has recorded 1,007 stubble-burning incidents during the ongoing paddy harvesting season, according to the district-wise report of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) up to October 29, IANS reported on Friday, October 30. Tarn Taran district accounts for the highest number with 397 cases — nearly 39 per cent of the state total — followed by Amritsar with 171 and Ferozepur with 104. The three districts together account for 672 of the 1,007 incidents.
Source: IANS via The Freedom Press
This is the PPCB's latest cumulative report. In the board's previous report, up to October 27, the season total stood at 717 incidents, with Tarn Taran at 318 and Amritsar at 154 — the count has since risen by 290 incidents in two days of reporting. Read the earlier PPCB report (717 cases)
District picture
After the top three, Gurdaspur recorded 72 cases, followed by Kapurthala with 63, Bathinda with 31, Fazilka with 28, Jalandhar with 22 and Faridkot with 21. Patiala and Hoshiarpur recorded 16 and 12 cases respectively, Sangrur also reported 12, and Fatehgarh Sahib 11. Muktsar reported nine cases, followed by Moga, Barnala and SAS Nagar with seven each. Ludhiana recorded six incidents, Malerkotla five, SBS Nagar three, Rupnagar two and Pathankot one. No stubble-burning incident was recorded in Mansa in the report.
Inspections and enforcement
Of the 1,007 incidents reported, officials inspected 778 locations and stubble burning was confirmed at 379 of them, the PPCB report said. A further 26 fields were found to have traces of stubble burning by PPF and nodal officers. Environmental compensation was imposed in 349 cases — Rs 17.50 lakh in total, of which Rs 13.15 lakh has been recovered. A total of 246 FIRs have been registered, red entries have been made in the revenue records of 297 fields, and 426 warnings and show-cause notices have been issued to nodal and supervisory officers.
The report, however, recorded zero figures for prosecution action under Section 14 of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) Act, for the filing of chargesheets and for the suspension of officials. In Patiala district, 16 cases were reported, officials inspected 14 locations and confirmed burning at seven; compensation of Rs 35,000 was imposed in six cases there, of which Rs 20,000 has been recovered.
The PPCB figures are cumulative for the season up to October 29 and do not give a separate district-wise breakdown of fresh incidents in the preceding 24 hours. With the paddy harvest under way, state authorities are continuing inspections and enforcement to curb stubble burning, which contributes to air pollution during the post-monsoon period, IANS reported.