Following the vigorous campaign launched by the Punjab Government against stubble burning, the state witnessed steep decline in the incidents of fire, thus improving the ambient air quality.Disclosing this here today, Secretary Agriculture Secretary-cum-State Nodal Officer of Anti-Stubble Burning Campaign KS Pannu said that data from Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) depicts that 3228 cases of stubble burning were reported across the state from September 27 to Oct. 22, 2018 as compared to 8420 and 13358 cases in corresponding period during the year 2017 & 2016.Mr. Pannu pointed out that this marked improvement was mainly attributed to the positive response of the farmers coupled with environmental friendly initiatives taken by the State Government as well as GoI to check the menace of stubble burning.He further revealed that due to less fire incidents, the Air Quality Index (AQI) of Punjab is far better now than that in the corresponding period.The AQI of Punjab is 111 against 326 in the corresponding period last year. An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301, 400 very poor and 401-500 Severe.
Notably, the state government has already embarked upon a massive programme for management of paddy straw, without burning, by the farmers. As many as 24315 subsidized agro-machines/equipments are being supplied to the farmers, Cooperative Societies and Custom Hiring Centres to achieve zero burning of paddy straw. Over 21,000 farm equipments/agro-machines have been so far provided to the farmers for in-situ management of paddy straw in a scientific manner. A massive awareness campaign through print, electronic and social media as well as by employing NGOs, youth clubs and education institutions has been launched.Captain Amarinder Singh had earlier directed the Agriculture Department to actively engage its machinery for on-ground activities at the village level to effectively tackle the menace of stubble burning. On his directives, the state government already appointed nodal officers in 8000 paddy growing villages in a move to check stubble burning efficaciously. These villages have been identified by the Agriculture Department where paddy stubble is traditionally being burnt.It may be recalled that the Chief Minister had recently met Prime Minister Narendra Modi for seeking Rs. 100 per quintal as compensation only for those farmers who abstain from burning paddy residue under the state government’s ambitious programme for management of paddy straw.Paddy is grown on 65 lac acres of land in Punjab. After harvesting paddy, about 20 million tonnes of paddy straw is left in the fields to be managed by farmers before sowing the next Rabi crops.