Stubble season closes with high but dipping fire counts

With the traditional 'stubble' season (that starts annually on September 15 with paddy harvest) closing on November 30, government data shows 27% reduction in farm fires in Punjab this year compared to 2022, 37% dip in Haryana as well as a clear reduction in number of days with over 2,000 fire counts in both states.

From 87,632 far fires reported across Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan NCR districts, Uttar Pradesh NCR and DElhi- NCR in 2020, the number is down to 39186 in 2023. Biggest contributor Punjab shows a clear decline- from 83,002 far fires in 2020, 49,922 in 2022 down to 36663 in 2023.

A similar trend is seen in Haryana. From 4202 farm fires in 2020, the number is down to 2303 in 2023.


However, despite this 'significant reduction' in farm fires, the bottomline is that the - 'resultant improvement did not reflect' much in the daily average AQI of Delhi-NCR- still reeling near 400 AQI for most of November, concedes the the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in a statement issued Thursday.

The capital's 'highly unfavourable meteorology and climate conditions' from late October on are to blame, it points out.

While this leaves the capital in an air pocket yet again, the 2023 dip in farm fires offers some glimmer of hope.