Delhi air remains toxic despite dip in stubble burning

Farm fires in Punjab, often blamed for the rise in Delhi's air pollution, have gone down by 50 per cent since last year in the post-harvest period. Yet, there is little effect on the air quality in the national capital.

As per the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, from 15 September to 27 October, Punjab has seen 1,995 farm fire cases as compared to 4,059 in the corresponding period last year. On 24 October, Punjab reported 1,638 farm fires so far, registering a 16 per cent dip from last year.

The farm fire incidents in the period have gone down by 75 per cent since 2022, when the state recorded 8,147 farm fires in this period.

After paddy harvesting in October and November, stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and states adjacent to Delhi are said to contribute to pollution in Delhi. And paddy procurement is currently underway in Punjab. The state's agriculture and farmers welfare minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said, "The reduction in stubble burning incidents is a testament to the concerted efforts of the Punjab government and the farming community."

"More than 8,000 nodal officers have been appointed by the government to prevent stubble burning and raise awareness among farmers", Khudian said in a statement.

The drop in farm fire cases, however, has not had a significant effect on air pollution in Delhi, where air quality was "very poor", with an AQI reading of 355.

On Saturday, the Centre urged states to strengthen implementation of existing micro-level action plans for crop residue management, as authorities race to prevent the annual air quality crisis in the national capital.

At a high-level virtual meeting co-chaired by agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and environment minister Bhupender Yadav, states were asked to optimise the use of more than 300,000 crop residue management machines that have been distributed to farmers with government subsidies.

As the window for rabi crops like wheat is very short after the paddy harvest, some farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue to sow the next crop. With over 31 lakh hectares under paddy cultivation, Punjab produces around 180-200 lakh tonnes of paddy straw every year.

The solution

Ministers from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, along with Delhi's environment minister, have strategised to intensify monitoring by district collectors in hotspot areas, development of infrastructure for converting farm waste into biofuel, promotion of bio-decomposers alongside mechanical management, and enhanced access to equipment for small-scale farmers.

The Punjab government said 13,616 crop residue management (CRM) machines have been supplied to farmers this year, bringing the total to over 1.43 lakh machines since 2018.

However, officials in the meeting acknowledged that access to equipment remains a challenge for small farmers despite the distribution of subsidised machines.

The annual burning of crop stubble in northern India has been a major contributor to hazardous air quality levels in New Delhi and surrounding areas during winter months. Officials warned that the burning of agricultural waste damages soil fertility and affects beneficial insects, beyond its impact on air quality.

Punjab recorded 36,663 farm fires in 2023, registering a 26 per cent drop in such incidents from the year before.

The state recorded 49,922 fire events in 2022, 71,304 in 2021, 76,590 in 2020, 55,210 in 2019 and 50,590 in 2018 with many districts, including Sangrur, Mansa, Bathinda and Amritsar, witnessing a large number of stubble-burning incidents.