New Delhi: Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa Tuesday accused the AAP-led Punjab govt of fudging the stubble-burning data to understate the scale of farm fires in the state.He alleged that police records and satellite monitoring figures contradict the official numbers released by Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB). Sirsa cited police records from Tarn Taran and questioned the state’s data.AAP has called the claims baseless.Sirsa said police registered 90 stubble-burning FIRs in the district on Oct 28 alone, while Punjab’s official count for the entire state that day stood at 96 farm fires. Between Oct 24 and 31, Tarn Taran recorded 271 FIRs, of which 189 were related to stubble burning, he said. “Either the FIRs are false or PPCB’s data is,” Sirsa said.He also referred to satellite monitoring data from ICAR-IARI, which, according to him, recorded 933 farm fires in Punjab between Oct 26 and Nov 1, an average of 133 a day. On Nov 1, Punjab reported 175 fires, against seven in Haryana and none in UP and Delhi, he said.Sirsa also questioned the appointment of Reena Gupta, an AAP spokesperson in Delhi and a former adviser to the former Delhi environment minister, as chairperson of PPCB.He alleged that the appointment had compromised the independence of the regulator, claiming that the post had previously been held by environmental experts and senior IAS officers.Sirsa made these allegations at a conference. No response could be obtained from Reena Gupta.The minister said the Centre had released Rs 2,056.50 crore to Punjab under a crop residue management scheme between 2018-19 and 2025-26. Of the Rs 592.57 crore earmarked for 2026-27, Rs 430.87 crore had already been released, he said, adding that the Union agriculture minister had sought utilisation certificates from the state.“Punjab’s farmers need machines, not FIRs. Delhi needs clean air, not AAP’s revenge,” Sirsa said, urging residents to report pollution violations through the Green Delhi app.AAP reacted online, saying that “BJP can stoop to any level, even lie blatantly, to defame Punjab’s farmers and cover up the incompetence of its own govt in Delhi”.The party said on X: “A photograph showing officials extinguishing a stubble fire is being twisted to make it appear that Punjab Police was enabling it. Mr Sirsa, stop manufacturing lies about Punjab’s farmers and police and answer why your BJP govt has failed miserably in controlling pollution in Delhi despite no stubble burning in Punjab.”
