Punjab records 4,657 stubble-burning incidents; fines worth Rs 7.28 crore imposed, says pollution board

Punjab recorded 4657 incidents of stubble burning across the state up to November 9 2026 according to a report by the Punjab Pollution Control Board PPCBThe report stated that police have registered 1442 FIRs in connection with the incidents while environmental fines amounting to Rs 7285 crore have been imposed Of this amount Rs 336 crore has been recovered so far ANI reportedAccording to the PPCB harvesting has been completed on 9370 per cent of the states 3287 lakh hectares of paddycultivated land Administrative and monitoring teams are conducting regular inspections to check stubble burningSo far 3845 reported farmfire incidents have been inspected with physical evidence of stubble burning confirmed at 1675 locationsPatiala records 299 stubbleburning incidentsIn Patiala district 299 incidents of stubble burning have been recorded Inspections were conducted in 195 cases with evidence of burning confirmed at 122 locationsThe district has registered 86 FIRs Environmental fines totalling Rs 4350 lakh have been imposed of which Rs 15 lakh has been recoveredAdditionally official adverse entries known as red entries have been made in 35 cases while 185 warning notices have been issuedTarn Taran reports highest number of farm firesA districtwise analysis of the data shows that Tarn Taran recorded the highest number of stubbleburning incidents at 659 followed by Ferozepur with 621 cases Sangrur reported 508 incidents while Bathinda recorded 412The number of FIRs registered also varied across these districts Tarn Taran reported 307 FIRs Ferozepur 365 and Sangrur 80 Bathinda recorded 19 FIRsThe PPCB report indicates that monitoring and enforcement measures against stubble burning are continuing across Punjab These include field inspections registration of FIRs imposition of environmental fines and issuance of warning notices the news agency reportedHowever the continued reporting of farm fires despite these measures remains a challenge for the administration and its efforts to ensure proper stubble managementCTI says firecrackers cannot be solely blamed for Delhis winter pollutionMeanwhile the Chamber of Trade and Industry CTI has urged authorities to stop holding Diwali firecrackers solely responsible for Delhirsquos air pollution arguing that the issue requires yearround scientific and balanced measures rather than selective restrictions that affect tradersrsquo livelihoodsIn a statement CTI Chairman Brijesh Goyal said that while the organisation is completely against pollution and wants clean air for Delhi blaming firecrackers used on a single day for the cityrsquos pollution is not justifiedldquoStop the fashion of always making firecracker traders and Diwali firecrackers the villains for pollutionrdquo the CTI said calling for coordinated efforts with the Central government and neighbouring states to address stubble burningRaising questions over the effectiveness of restrictions on firecrackers the trade body asked whether any credible and accountable organisation could guarantee that Delhirsquos Air Quality Index AQI would not cross 300 between October and January if firecracker sales were completely stoppedThe CTI said it could persuade Delhibased firecracker traders associated with it not to set up shops or sell firecrackers next year However it questioned whether such a move would guarantee cleaner air during the winter monthsQuestioning the argument that firecrackers are the primary cause of Delhirsquos pollution the CTI pointed out that the cityrsquos AQI remained between 350 and 400 on November 5 6 and 7 even though firecrackers were burst on November 8It argued that this demonstrated that firecrackers were not the fundamental cause of Delhirsquos pollution and said that blaming them was the easiest approach while ignoring other contributing factorsThe trade body also questioned why pollution levels rise every year between October and January while the situation remains relatively better from March to SeptemberWith ANI inputs