PPCB to start monitoring from April 15 | Check overhead wires, PSPCL staff told
Farmers have started to put their wheat stubble on fire with over a dozen cases reported in past 24 hours, even as the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) will start monitoring stubble burning cases from April 15. Every post-wheat season Punjab witnesses around 7,000 to 10,000 cases of farm fires, which gradually increase from April-end and continue till mid-May.
In 2020, the state witnessed 8,500 incidents of wheat straw burning. Despite the PPCB’s appeal, farmers have already started clearing their wheat stubble by resorting to farm fires.
According to information gathered by The Tribune, the actual farm fire incidents in parts of Punjab are around 100. The acutal data is not available as monitoring will start from April 15. “The early sown variety of wheat is already sold in the markets and the farmers, wasting no time at all, have burnt the stubble to prepare their fields for the upcoming paddy season that starts in June,” said an official.
Source: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/farm-fires-back-dozen-cases-in-past-24-hours-385508
