120 farm fires in a day, air quality dips

Tribune News Service

Karnal, October 16

There is no let-up in the burning of crop residue cases in Haryana. The state government’s efforts in this regard seem to having little impact.

Data recorded by the Haryana Space Applications Centre (HARSAC) shows the state witnessed 120 fresh active fire locations on Wednesday, taking the number of the total fire locations to 1,569 from September 25 to October 15.

Farmers of Karnal, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Ambala are among the top violators, said the data. On Wednesday, the HARSAC reported 25 active fire locations in Karnal, 24 in Kurukshetra, 16 in Ambala and 15 in Kaithal district.

So far, with 314 active fire locations, Kurukshetra is leading the tally, followed by Karnal (305), Kaithal (224), Ambala (219), Fatehabad (124), Jind (106), Yamunanagar (105) and Hisar (52). With the increasing incidents of farm fires, the air quality of the state is also deteriorating.

The air quality of Kurukshetra has turned to very poor from poor in two days. Its air quality index (AQI) stands at 332 as recorded at 4 pm on Thursday. Of Panipat, AQI is 347, Yamunanagar 325, Manesar 303, Gurugram 311, Faridabad 335, Charkhi Dadri 337, Ambala 274, Bhadurgarh 291, Fatehabad 291, Hisar 279, Jind 298, Kaithal 206, Karnal 287, Rohtak 241 and Sonepat 272. The AQI in the range of 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor and 401-500 severe.

SK Arora, Regional Officer of Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), said that stubble burning is a main reason for pollution. “I have conducted a meeting of officials to expedite the checking of stubble burning in the fields. We, with the help of other departments, are making farmers aware not to burn stubble, but to manage it for profit,” he added.