Punjab sees 30% dip in farm fires; encouraging trend, says expert

With the farm fire season coming to an official end for this year, the state reported 49,922 incidents of stubble-burning. The number is a lot less than the tally of two years. On the last day of the season, the state reported 15 cases of farm fire.

The state records stubble-burning data from September 15 to November 30 every year after the harvesting of paddy.

As compared to 76,755 farm fires in 2020 and 71,286 incidents in 2021, the state reported a sharp decline with only 49,922 farm fires this year.

With continuous efforts of all stakeholders, the area on which paddy stubble is burnt is expected to decline with a significant quantum in coming years. The trend of farm fires is declining. A comparison of data of the past three years shows that farm fires are on the decline in the state.