Bathinda: Punjab reported 29 farm fire incidents on Saturday, taking the tally to 220 during the ongoing paddy harvesting season. Across seven states, 57 fresh stubble burning cases were reported, taking the total to 865.Besides Punjab, Rajasthan reported 18 farm fires, Uttarakhand eight and Madhya Pradesh two. Madhya Pradesh continued to top the seven-state tally with 354 cases, followed by Punjab with 220, Uttar Pradesh with 134, Rajasthan with 124, Uttarakhand with 24, Haryana with eight and Delhi with one.Although Punjab remains behind Madhya Pradesh in the overall tally, its border districts of Tarn Taran and Amritsar continue to be stubble burning hotspots. This is despite a recent visit by a high-level team of the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) to the border districts, where it directed officials to make all-out efforts to eliminate farm fires.Tarn Taran has reported 95 cases and Amritsar has reported 81, making them the two worst-affected districts across the seven states so far.With farm fires continuing, the state has intensified penal action. Total of 18 FIRs have been registered under Section 223 of BNS, which deals with disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant. Of these, 12 were registered in Tarn Taran, three in Amritsar, and one each in Ferozepur, Gurdaspur and Patiala.Environmental compensation (EC) of Rs 3.2 lakh has been imposed in 62 cases, of which Rs 1.4 lakh has been recovered. Red entries have been made in land records in 38 cases, including 23 in Tarn Taran, nine in Amritsar, four in Ferozepur and two in Jalandhar. Warning and show-cause notices have also been issued to 94 nodal and supervisory officers.Meanwhile, data from the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space (CREAMS) showed that stubble burning had been reported in 106 districts across the seven states, including 15 districts in Punjab.CAQM team visits Moga, Faridkot to review stubble burning prevention measuresBathinda: A high-level delegation of the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM), led by T S Panwar, member (technical), visited Moga on Friday and Faridkot on Saturday to review the ground-level implementation of measures to prevent paddy stubble burning.The delegation held discussions with district officials and visited selected hotspot villages in Moga to assess the situation and review preparedness.The team reviewed measures for in-situ and ex-situ management of paddy residue, including availability and deployment of crop residue management (CRM) machinery, field-level surveillance and coordination among stakeholders.It also assessed the implementation of preventive measures at hotspot locations and stressed the need for continuous monitoring, effective coordination at the field level and timely action to prevent stubble burning during the ongoing harvesting season.
