Chandigarh, Nov 4 (PTI) Taking a serious view of the "very high" number of farm fires in Punjab, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Wednesday held a meeting with senior bureaucrats and police officers from 12 districts to review steps to prevent stubble burning.
The meeting, held through video conferencing, was presided over by Rajesh Verma, the chairperson of CAQM in NCR and adjoining areas, and attended by the state's Secretary, Environment; Secretary, Agriculture; and deputy commissioners (DCs) and senior superintendents of police (SSPs) of 12 districts of the state.
Between Monday and Tuesday, Punjab witnessed a single-day spurt of 584 cases.
The DCs and SSPs were from Ferozepur, Sangrur, Bathinda, Patiala, Barnala, Faridkot, Jalandhar, Fazilka, Ludhiana, Malerkotla, Moga, and Mansa.
A high-level CAQM team led by the Member-Technical is already in Bathinda to assess the situation at the ground level.
The Commission directed that the monitoring and enforcement drive must be intensified and nodal officers must be held accountable for lack of monitoring and for failure to prevent farm fires.
It reiterated that serious action will be taken against any laxity.
According to official data, as of November 3, the cumulative farm fire incidents in Punjab reached 2,196, with Tarn Taran district accounting for the maximum 545, Ferozepur 305, Amritsar 198, Bathinda 148, Kapurthala 112, Gurdaspur 108 and Sangrur reporting 154 incidents.
The cumulative number of farm fire incidents in Punjab on Monday was 1,612.
Meanwhile, CAQM also took stock of the ground-level presence of police personnel and nodal officers and their effectiveness in preventing the farm fires.
The Commission directed that local community leaders may also be involved in this task through confidence-building measures. District and state administration must also promote ex-situ use in boilers to maximise paddy stubble aggregation.
The Commission underlined that the state must endeavour to ensure a minimum five per cent co-firing of biomass pellets in thermal power plants as per the target.
The Commission made it clear that power plants failing to comply with the direction will face statutory action.
It underlined that the entire machinery must ensure that the farm fire spurt yesterday is a one-off thing and is not repeated.
Haryana model was cited as worth learning from, as incidents in its districts are significantly lower due to better planning and paddy stubble management.
The Commission emphasised that no stone must be left unturned towards the goal of preventing farm fires.
Delhi's air quality deteriorated sharply on Wednesday, with the AQI settling at 377 in the 'very poor' category, edging closer to the severe threshold, as 22 monitoring stations recorded severe pollution levels.
The AQI was the highest since January 20, when the index had settled at 378, making it the worst reading in 288 days.
IIT Delhi recorded the highest AQI at 458, followed by Jahangirpuri and Punjabi Bagh at 448 each, while Mundka recorded an AQI of 439. Of the 59 monitoring stations, 22 recorded 'severe' air quality, 32 were in the 'very poor' category and five recorded 'poor' air quality.
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)