Haryana witnesses 24 fresh cases of stubble burning cases

With 24 fresh cases of farm fires reported in Haryana on Saturday, the number of stubble burning cases has increased to 959 in the state.

Of the 24 fresh cases, a maximum of seven cases were reported from Jind district, followed by six from Fatehabad, two each from Bhiwani, Kaithal and Sirsa, and one each from Sonepat, Palwal, Karnal, Faridabad and Ambala.

Pollutants lying suspended in the air

The air flow has almost stopped due to which pollutants are lying suspended. The conditions are likely to stay due to the current climatic conditions and the activities going on. The situation may improve with an improvement in wind speed. - Dr Dipti Grover, Assistant Professor, Institute of Environmental Studies, Kurukshetra University

Of the 959 cases in the state, Kaithal reported the maximum (170), followed by Kurukshetra (130), Fatehabad (93), Jind (91), Karnal (85), Ambala (83), Sonepat (53), Sirsa (49), Faridabad (41), Palwal (37), Yamunanagar (35), Panipat (31), Hisar (25), Panchkula (18), Rohtak (12), Jhajjar (4) and Bhiwani (2). The situation so far seems to be better than last year. According to the data, 1,676 cases of farm fire were reported during the same period last year. A gradual drop in the number of farm fires has been observed over the past four years.

Hisar Court imposes Rs 1K fine on farmer

A Hisar court has convicted a farmer for stubble burning. The farmer, who was arrested and produced in the court on Friday, confessed to have burnt the stubble after which the court fined him Rs 1,000. The farmer was let off after depositing the fine.

Meanwhile, the air quality continues to be a matter of concern. The air quality in Bahadurgarh was registered to be ‘very poor’ on Saturday. In 14 other cities of Haryana, it was on the poor side as per the air quality index (AQI, which is the average of past 24 hours) of the Central Pollution Control Board.

As per CPCB’s evening bulletin, Bahadurgarh’s air quality was recorded to be ‘very poor’ (305), followed by Charkhi Dadri (292), Manesar (280), Jind (276), Dharuhera (261), Sonepat (260), Gurugram (252), Hisar (247), Bhiwani (238), Panchkula (237), Rohtak (229), Yamunanagar (226), Faridabad (204), Kurukshetra (204) and Fatehabad (203).

Besides the sporadic incidents of farm fires, the change in climatic conditions, localised factors, including road dust and industrial emission, are also the contributors.

Meanwhile, Dr Dipti Grover, Assistant Professor, Institute of Environmental Studies, Kurukshetra University, said: “The air flow has almost stopped due to which the pollutants are lying suspended and not moving. The conditions are likely to stay due to the current climatic conditions and the activities going on. The situation may improve with an improvement in wind speed.”