Rise in stubble-burning cases in Palwal district

Tribune News Service

Palwal, April 28

As the wheat harvesting season is underway, the threat of poor air quality due to stubble burning looms large in the region. In the past two to three weeks, there have been reports of stubble burning incidents in the state.

With a total of 13 cases reported in Palwal district since April 1, a cumulative fine of Rs 35,000 has been imposed on five violators, claim officials of the Agriculture Department.

The Haryana Space Applications Centre (HARSAC), which is a nodal agency of the Citizen Resource Information Department of the state government for remote sensing (RS) and geographical information system (GIS) applications, has reported several cases of farm residue burning across the state.

However, not all reported cases may be true as the stubble burning incidents are officially recorded only after the confirmation through physical verification by officials of the Agriculture Department. Nonetheless, the Haryana State Pollution Control Board has warned that this practice is likely to impact the air quality in the region adversely. The contribution of stubble burning and crop dust or residue in the atmosphere due to harvesting activity cannot be ruled out as a cause for the poor air quality index (AQI) in the city in the past 15 days.

The district administration has issued an appeal to farmers to not burn the stubble. As of April 16, a total of 58 incidents of stubble burning have been reported in the state. The maximum number of cases (16) has been reported in Sirsa, while Palwal has received information of 13 incidents since April 1 this year.

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