52 farm fires in 24 hours; 49 FIRs registered

Smog-like conditions were witnessed in many villages across the state on Sunday. The state has reported 1,445 farm fires this season and the air quality is worsening with each passing day. Forty-nine FIRs were registered against erring farmers over the past 24 hours.

The state authorities have registered 136 FIRs this season, besides imposing “environmental compensation” worth lakhs on erring farmers.

The state witnessed 52 fires on Sunday with Patiala topping the chart with 11, followed by Tarn Tarn (10) and Ferozepur (nine). On the same day (October 20) in 2022, 96 active fire events were reported, while the number was 174 in 2023.

Despite spending crores on machines and awareness campaigns to manage crop residue, the air quality index (AQI) has started deteriorating across the state with a surge in the number of farm fire cases.

The air quality in industrial town of Mandi Gobindgarh dipped to “poor” category, while other districts also remained in the “moderate” zone on Sunday. In Amritsar, the AQI was 159, followed by Jalandhar (141), Khanna (140), Ludhiana (121) and Patiala (116). Interestingly, Bathinda, which recorded AQI of 209 last Sunday, was the cleanest at 51 today.

Environmental compensation amounting to Rs 10.20 lakh has been imposed in 384 cases out of which Rs 8.85 lakh has been collected. Out of the total 136 FIRs registered against the farmers for burning paddy stubble, 49 were registered in the past within 24 hours. The government has also made 383 red entries in the land records of farmers resorting to farm fires, with 19 of them recorded within the past 24 hours.