Despite various initiatives by the Punjab government, cases of stubble burning are still on the rise as the state witnessed the highest number of this season with 2,131 farm fires on Monday. The previous all-time high for 2022 was 2,067, which was reported on Friday. The total number of farm fires in Punjab this year has reached 16,004 compared to last year’s 13,124 cases till 31.
Sangrur district, the home bastion of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and two cabinet ministers, Harpal Singh Cheema and Aman Arora, witnessed a maximum of 330 incidents of stubble burning in the state, taking the total to 1,699. Sangrur recorded 323 cases of farm fires on Sunday and 286 On Saturday. The district also witnessed the highest number of cases (8,006) in 2021.
According to Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) officials, Ferozepur Sangrur followed with 250 cases and Patiala was third with 202 farm fires detected on Monday. Facing flak for not checking farm fires, the Aam Aadmi Party government even suspended four officials, including Sangrur’s chief agricultural officer, for dereliction of duty.
