Expressing concern over Delhi’s air quality remaining in the “very poor” category for the fifth day in a row, the Centre on Sunday accused Rajasthan and Punjab Governments for not doing enough to curb air pollution related stubble burning cases which, it alleged, have risen by 160 per cent in Rajasthan and 20 per cent in Punjab.
Union Minister of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said, “The Governments in the two States are not doing enough to check stubble burning and are, on the contrary, increasingly contributing to the deteriorating air quality in Delhi-NCR.”
The Minister, who is also in-charge of the IMD, Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, said unlike Punjab and Rajasthan, Haryana and UP have recorded progressive decline in stubble fire cases.
He said, such inferences indicate that either the Governments in Rajasthan and Punjab are not serious about air quality or they have not properly utilised the funds which were provided by the Narendra Modi Government to purchase machines for stubble management.
“Punjab registered over 13,396 fire counts in the first five days of November, compared to 16,004 fires in entire October 2022, thus plunging the air quality into severe category,” he added.
Singh pointed out that since 2018-19, on the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Centre has provided `3,138 crore to States for stubble management, out of which nearly `1,500 crore was provided to Punjab alone.
In the first five days of the current month of November ending last evening, the number of fire counts was much higher in Punjab than Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. For example, on November 5, the number of fire counts in Punjab was 2817 and in Rajasthan 91 respectively, compared to 90 in Haryana and 24 in Uttar Pradesh respectively.
The highest fire count on any single day was recorded on November 2, when Punjab topped with 3,634 farm fire incidents and the number in Rajasthan recorded up to 63.
Singh said the abnormal rise in cases of stubble burning in Punjab in the first five days of November is solely responsible for plunging the air quality into severe category.
He said, Punjab registered 13, 396 fire counts from 1st to November 5, while it was 16,004 for the entire month of October.
The contribution of stubble fire to the pollution level of PM2.5 is estimated by AQEWS. The contribution is estimated at 9.7 per cent on November 1, 7.4 per cent on November,2, 32 per cent on November, 3 and 17.8 per cent on November, 4.
BOX: Fire counts
Farm Fires October 2021 October 2022
Punjab 13269 16004
Haryana 2914 1995
UP 1060 768
Rajasthan 124 318