A map by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) on Monday showed several fire spots over Punjab and Haryana even as the air quality in Delhi continues to dip.
Interestingly, the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) has claimed that 40 per cent of air pollution in Delhi is due to farm fires in North-Western states like Punjab and Haryana.
Here’s a closer look of stubble burning on Punjab map. Areas like Moga, Faridkot, Muktsar, Barnala, Maler Kotla, Fatehgarh show several such fire spots.
The air quality in Delhi and its neighbouring areas remained ‘very poor’ on Monday morning, with stubble burning contributing to Delhi’s pollution and negating the effect of better ventilation, according to a government forecasting agency.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 302 in Delhi’s ITO, news agency ANI reported.
The AQI was recorded at 362 in Sonia Vihar, 345 in Bawana, 326 in Patparganj and 373 in Jahangirpuri — all four in the ‘very poor’ category, as per the CPCB data.
Punjab on Sunday reported 3,560 incidents of stubble burning, with the highest number of farm fires recorded in Sangrur district at 593, as per the PTI report.
Punjab had recorded 24,722 stubble or crop residue burning incidents in the corresponding period of last year.
The Punjab government on Sunday claimed that the state’s air quality index (AQI) fared a lot better than that of neighbouring Haryana and Delhi.
The pollution in Delhi, especially in the months of October till December, has been increasingly blamed on the fires put to the paddy residues in the fields of north Indian states, specifically, Punjab, according to a government release.
In Haryana, stations near Delhi (2019-2020) and Faridabad for the same period in 2020, the average AQI ranged from 67 to 115, it said.
With the start of harvesting and stubble burning season in the month of October (2018-2020), the AQI in the cities of Punjab ranges from 116 to 153, the release said.
At the same time, in locations in Haryana near Delhi (2019-2020) and Faridabad (2020) for the same period, the average AQI ranged from 203 to 245 and the AQI of Delhi during this period ranges from 234 to 269, it said.
