Delhi Air Pollution: This year there is a possibility of relief from air pollution, this time there is a big reduction in the cases of stubble burning as compared to the previous years.

The entire National Capital Region (NCR), including Delhi, seems to be getting relief from air pollution by the third week of October due to a significant reduction in the cases of stubble burning this year.

In the data released by the Central Government's Air Quality Management Commission (CAQM), it has been said that this time in the last one month only 1,795 cases of stubble burning have been reported in five states including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, compared to the same period last year. There were 4,854 incidents in At the same time, no case of stubble burning was reported in Delhi and Rajasthan.

According to the commission, the cases of stubble burning have come down by 64.49 percent in Punjab, 18.28 percent in Haryana, and 47.61 percent in eight districts of Uttar Pradesh included in the NCR. This figure of CAQM is based on the protocol issued by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the NCR and its associated areas. The commission has prepared its report based on monitoring done on stubble burning from 15 September to 14 October. In this, the incidents of burning paddy residue and their exact time are registered.

Fine imposed in 252 cases

The commission says that with the continuous efforts and cooperation of the states, the results of making the farmer aware have started getting results. Incidents of paddy residue burning in eight districts of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh have come down significantly this year. Enforcement agencies have also conducted spot inspections to know the ground reality of the measures being taken to prevent stubble burning.

So far, agencies have reached 663 incidents in all the districts of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and inspected them. Of these, environmental fines were imposed in 252 cases.

Punjab still up, the eyes of the commission

There were 1,286 incidents of stubble burning in Punjab this year as compared to 4,216 during the same period last year. At the same time, there were 596 such incidents in Haryana last year, which came down to 487 this year. In eight NCR districts of Uttar Pradesh, only 22 cases have been registered this time as against 42 incidents last year. At the same time, no case of stubble burning has been reported in Delhi and Rajasthan so far.

An official statement issued by the CQM said, "Punjab is very sensitive to stubble burning. Every year, 72% of the cases are reported from Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Patiala, and Ludhiana in the state. Similarly, 80 percent of incidents of stubble burning are recorded in Karnal, Kaithal, and Kurukshetra of Haryana.

The next few weeks important

According to the Air Quality Commission, the harvesting of the crop will be at its peak in the next few weeks. But the state governments are taking steps to effectively tackle the problem of stubble burning.

To check air pollution during harvesting, the commission is actively monitoring the stubble burning sites since September 15. It is also holding regular meetings with officials including Deputy Commissioners of Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh. At the same time, ISRO is keeping an eye on the incidents of stubble burning through satellites. In addition, a protocol for surveillance control has also been developed in the Commission.