Spike in farm fires: 138 fresh cases, Amritsar air turns poor
There has been a rise in the stubble burning incidents as 138 farm fire cases were reported on Sunday. As many as 108 incidents of paddy residue burning were reported on Saturday.
As a result, Punjab’s air quality index (AQI) has deteriorated further, with Amritsar’s pollution index falling in the poor category with 317 points. The AQI of Mandi Gobindgarh was 216, Patiala 203, Jalandhar 161, Ludhiana 153, Rupnagar 151 and Khanna 135. The residents of Bathinda breathed easy with an AQI of 89. The pollution control board has issued as many as 397 show-cause notices to nodal and supervisory officers across the state.
In the meantime, pulmonologists said the present conditions were ideal for triggering nasal and bronchial allergies. Dr Vishal Chopra, head of the department of pulmonary medicine at TB Hospital in Patiala, said there had been a rise in the number of patients visiting the outpatient department (OPD) pertaining to the complaint of cough, allergy, asthma, runny nose and eyes allergies. People are advised to avoid direct exposure and wear masks and glasses while travelling on two-wheelers.
Ferozepur topped the district with 32 incidents, followed by Sangrur (18), Fatehgarh Sahib (17), while Patiala and Tarn Taran witnessed 14 and 13 incidents, respectively. Amritsar continues to top the state with a total of 476 incidents of paddy residue burning reported so far, followed by Tarn Taran (375) and Patiala (250). Sangrur and Ferozepur have reported 182 and 208 residue burning incidents so far.
As many as 1,342 FIRs, 553 red entries and Rs 15.25 lakh penalty have been imposed on farmers, of which Rs 13.47 lakh have been recovered. Out of the 1,995 stubble burning incidents reported since September 15, the state has witnessed 1,734 of them — 86 per cent incidents in the past 18 days.
The state had witnessed a spike in farm fire in the second week of October with 123 residue burning incidents reported on October 10. October 11 saw 143 incidents of residue burning, while October 12 witnessed peak fire of the season with 177 incidents reported in the single day.
