Cases of stubble burning in the 'rice belt' of north India have come down this year in comparison with the same last year, the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) said on Friday.
In a report of the commission, the Union Minister of Environment said the paddy residue burning events in the three States during the one-month period between September 15 and October 15 have reduced from a similar observation last year.
According to CAQM, paddy residue burning events have been reduced by 69.49% in Punjab, by 18.28% in Haryana and by 47.61% in the 8 NCR Districts of Uttar Pradesh during the one-month period compared to the same period last year.
The first reports from Punjab were noted on September 16 and from the UP districts on September 18 while in Haryana it was observed on September 28.
Further, CAQM also noted that in Punjab, a key agricultural state, 1,286 residue burning incidents were reported, significantly lesser than the 4,216 such events in 2020.
A similar reduction in the numbers has been observed in Haryana and UP too, the ministry’s data showed. In Haryana district, there were 487 fire incidents in the last month against the 596 in 2020. In the eight districts of U{, stubble burning incidents have been reduced by half in the same time period and recorded at 22 in comparison with 42 incidents in 2020. In Delhi and in the districts of Rajasthan, no fire counts were observed.
