No let-up in farm fires, 177 fresh cases reported

There appears to be no let-up in farm fire cases. The state reported 177 incidents of paddy residue burning on Saturday.

With 62 incidents, Amritsar recorded the highest number of farm fires today, followed by Tarn Taran (32) and Sangrur (19), while Patiala, Kapurthala and SAS Nagar reported 10 cases each. Eight cases were reported from Ludhiana.

Of the total 698 stubble-burning cases reported so far, Amritsar topped the list with 269 incidents, contributing around 40 per cent cases to the tally, followed by Tarn Taran (132).

The pollution control board has imposed Rs 3.67 lakh environmental compensation on 128 defaulters and the entire amount has already been recovered by the authorities.