AAP-Led Punjab Accounts For 65.5 Per Cent Of Farm Fires, BJP-Led Haryana Mere 5.3 Per Cent: Data Reveals, As Political Slugfest Continues On Stubble Burning

The blame game over the severe air pollution and health scare in the national capital has intensified between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab and Delhi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Haryana.

Both parties are pointing fingers at stubble burning in states governed by the other as the cause.

Interestingly, both states have actually seen a significant decrease in stubble burning incidents compared to the same period last year.

Satellites have detected a total of 2,914 residue-burning events in the six study states on Monday (6 November).

Among these, Punjab had the highest number with 2,060 events, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 655, Uttar Pradesh with 87, Haryana with 65, Rajasthan with 47, and Delhi with zero.

This brings the cumulative total of such cases between 15 September and 6 November to 29,641.

The cumulative figures reveal that Punjab has accounted for 65.6 per cent of the total farm fires, totaling 19,463 incidents.

Madhya Pradesh follows with 6,218 cases, making up 20.97 per cent of the total. Haryana has recorded 1,579 incidents, accounting for 5.3 per cent of the total.

Uttar Pradesh has reported 1,270 incidents, making up 4.2 per cent of the total. Rajasthan has recorded 1,109 incidents, accounting for 3.7 per cent of the total.

Lastly, Delhi has reported only two incidents, making up a mere 0.006 per cent of the total.

This year, Haryana has reported 1,579 cases of stubble burning as of 6 November, which is lower than the 2,576 cases recorded during the same period in 2022.

In Punjab, there were 29,999 active fire locations in 2022, compared to 19,463 this year.

On Monday (6 November), Punjab reported the highest number of cases in Sangrur with 509 cases.

This was followed by Bathinda, Mansa, Barnala, Ferozepur, Faridkot, Moga, and Patiala, where 210, 195, 189, 146, 122, 110, and 89 cases were recorded, respectively. Pathankot had zero cases, while Ropar had one case.

Punjab has seen a decrease of 35 per cent in farm fire incidents from 15 September to 6 November, compared to the same period last year. Similarly, Haryana has recorded a reduction of 38.7 per cent.

The farmer leaders argue that providing machines to process crop residue could significantly reduce farm fires.

However, officials find it challenging to supply machines to all farmers, claiming that it would be redundant after the paddy harvesting season.

Additionally, officials state that they will allocate over Rs 90 crore to farmers in Haryana this year as part of a government scheme, as 940 lakh acres have been registered to receive the incentive.

The Haryana government provides a subsidy of Rs 1,000 per acre to discourage stubble burning, but farmer leaders argue that it is insufficient.

According to Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni, if the government provides a relief amount of at least Rs 3,000 per acre for disposing of crop residue by making bales, farmers will not resort to burning stubble.

In response to criticism regarding the increase in farm fires, Punjab Cabinet Minister Harpal Singh Cheema pointed out that the majority of stubble burning incidents are actually occurring in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, both of which are governed by the BJP.

Cheema, addressing concerns about Punjab's contribution to air pollution in Delhi, informed reporters that there has been a notable decrease in the occurrence of crop residue burning incidents in the state this season.

Cheema, also alleged a "conspiracy" by the BJP, stating that Punjab is unfairly blamed for air pollution caused by stubble burning.

Meanwhile, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij emphasised the seriousness of the issue of stubble burning and pollution, stating that there should be no political agenda surrounding this problem.

Vij accused AAP of hypocrisy, noting that when they did not have a government in Punjab, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal blamed Punjab for the pollution. Now that the AAP has a government in both Delhi and Punjab, they collectively blame Haryana for the issue.

According to Priyanka Kakkar, a spokesperson for the AAP, the smoke from stubble burning in Sonipat, Panipat, and Rohtak in Haryana is reaching Delhi, but the Khattar government is not taking any action to address the issue.

Parali is being burned in Haryana, located 100 km away from Delhi, while stubble is being burned in Punjab, which is 500 km away from the national capital, according to her statement.

In addition, she claimed that the pollution in Delhi was also being exacerbated by the presence of BS III and BS IV buses, industrial units, and the use of diesel generators in Haryana, which were being utilised due to prolonged power outages.

According to Delhi BJP secretary Harish Khurana, the deteriorating air quality in Delhi over the past eight days can be attributed to the farm fires in Punjab.

In the past month, Punjab has experienced a total of 17,000 incidents of parali burning, with a significant increase of 13,000 incidents occurring in just the last eight days.