NEW DELHI: Compared to the previous year, Delhi and adjoining states recorded over a 50 per cent reduction in the incidents of paddy burning between September 15 and October 16, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) stated on Monday. According to the data released by the central body for monitoring pollution in NCR and adjoining areas, the current year has so far seen a reduction of 3,431 to 1,695 fire counts as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
The data revealed that Punjab recorded 1,444 paddy fire incidents as against 2,375 such events reported in 2021 while in Haryana, 244 farm fires were logged down this year against 1,026 in the previous year. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh recorded five farm fires, a multifold reduction from 30 reported last year.
However, Delhi recorded two fire incidents this year while no fire incident was reported from the capital last year. According to the CAQM, during the current harvesting season, the first paddy residue burning incident was reported on September 15 in Punjab, followed by Haryana on September 18. The farm fires in the NCR districts of UP were noted from September 30 while in Delhi, the paddy burning started on October 5.
The commission also stated about a series of meetings held with the top district officials of NCR towns to review preparedness and implementation of an action plan to prevent and control the paddy straw burning events. “Meetings with 23 District Collectors / District Magistrates (DMs) of Punjab, 22 DMs/ DCs of Haryana, and 8 DMs/ DCs of NCR Districts of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) was held recently, regarding the preparedness and implementation of action plan for Prevention and Control of Paddy Straw Burning in 2022,” it said.
Paddy straw burning in adjoining states is among the major contributors to air quality deterioration in the Delhi NCR area. The events led to an alarming spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November triggered after farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue before cultivating wheat and vegetables. According to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Punjab had reported 71,304 farm fires between September 15 and November 30 last year and 83,002 farm fires in the corresponding period in 2020
Last year, the share of farm fires in Delhi’s PM 2.5 pollution had peaked to 48 per cent on November 7.
‘Meetings held to review action plan’
The commission also stated about a series of meetings held with the top district officials of NCR to review preparedness and implementation of an action plan to prevent and control the paddy straw burning events. “Meetings with 23 District Collectors / District Magistrates (DMs) of Punjab, 22 DMs/ DCs of Haryana, and 8 DMs/ DCs of NCR Districts of Uttar Pradesh was held recently, regarding the preparedness and implementation of action plan for Prevention and Control of Paddy Straw Burning in 2022,” it said. Paddy straw burning in adjoining states is among the major contributors to air quality deterioration in Delhi NCR area.
