Chandigarh: Farm fires in Punjab, often blamed for a rise in Delhi’s air pollution, have reduced by 50 percent since last year during the post-harvest period, with little impact on air quality in the national capital.

According to data from Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, from September 15 to October 27, there were 1,995 cases of farm fires in Punjab, compared to 4,059 in the same period last year.

Farm fire incidents during the period have decreased by 75 percent since 2022. The state recorded 8,147 farm fires in 2022 during this period.

Stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and neighboring states of Delhi after paddy harvest in October and November is said to have contributed to pollution in Delhi. Paddy procurement continues in Punjab.

There were 138 farm fires in Punjab on Sunday; According to the data, such incidents were highest in Ferozepur, followed by Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib.

In 2022 and 2023, the state saw 1,111 and 766 farm fires on the same day, respectively.

But the drop in farm fire cases did not have a significant impact on air pollution in Delhi, where air quality is “very poor”. AQI Reading of 355.

Since the time window for Rabi crops like wheat after paddy harvest is very short, some farmers set fire to their fields to quickly clear crop residue for planting the next crop.

Punjab, which has over 31 lakh hectares of paddy area, produces around 180-200 lakh tonnes of paddy straw every year.

36,663 farm fires were recorded in Punjab in 2023, registering a 26 percent decline in such incidents compared to the previous year.

The state recorded 49,922 fire incidents in 2022, 71,304 in 2021, 76,590 in 2020, 55,210 in 2019 and 50,590 in 2018; Many districts, including Sangrur, Mansa, Bathinda and Amritsar, witnessed numerous incidents of stubble burning.

(This report was published as part of an automatically generated syndicated wire feed. Other than the headline, no edits have been made to the copy by ABP Live.)