As stubble burning continues in Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s home district Sangrur tops recording 139 percent more incidents of farm fires in comparison to the previous year.

Last year from September 15 to November 2 farm fires in Sangrur stood at 1,266. This year they have shot up by 139% rising to 3,025, according to official data.

On Wednesday alone, the state recorded 3,634 cases of stubble burning out of which 673 cases were reported from Sangrur. From September 15 to November 2, Sangrur recorded 2, 721 incidents while the entire state recorded 21, 480 incidents.

The major reason for failure in controlling farm fires is that the farmers cannot plough their fields for sowing wheat unless they remove the stubble and burning it is the cheapest and quickest way out. They have demanded Rs 200 per quintal of stubble as an incentive if the government wanted them to stop burning stubble. But the state government did not have sufficient money to meet the demand.

Union, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav has pointed out that while Punjab saw a more than 19% rise in farm fires over what was seen in 2021, Haryana has seen a 30.6% drop in stubble burning during the same period.

Yadav said that about ₹492 crore was available to Punjab, but the state government chose to sit with the funds forcing helpless farmers to burn the crop residue.

“Last year Punjab left Rs 212 crore unspent. This year, the Central Govt gave Punjab Rs 280 crore for crop residue management machines,” the minister said.

According to reports, the share of stubble burning in Delhi PM2.5 pollution rose to 32 percent on Wednesday, the highest this year so far.

The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) reported 3,634 farm fires in Punjab on Wednesday, the highest this year so far. The number stood at 1,842 on Tuesday, 2,131 on Monday, 1,761 on Sunday, 1,898 on Saturday, and 2,067 on Friday.