category Regional, chandigarh, , tags Regional, chandigarh, , DW BUREAU chandigarh Punjab Thursday registered 1,150 stubble burning incidents, taking the total number of such cases to 33,082. Air quality indices remained in very poor and poor categories in many parts of neighbouring Haryana and Punjab. Many farmers in Punjab continued to set paddy straw ablaze while ignoring appeals of the state government and warning of legal action against them. Amid a spike in pollution levels in Delhi-NCR, the Supreme Court on November 7 directed Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to ensure crop residue burning was stopped forthwith , saying it cannot let people die due to pollution. Of the 1,150 farm fires reported on Friday, Moga witnessed maximum such cases at 225, followed by 117 in Barnala, 114 in Ferozepur, 110 in Sangrur, 109 in Bathinda and 101 in Faridkot. On the same day in 2021 and 2022, the state had seen 523 and 966 farm fires respectively. Out of total 33,082 farm fires recorded from September 15 till November 17, Sangrur is leading with maximum stubble burning cases of 5,462, followed by 2,998 in Ferozepur, 2,696 in Bathinda, 2,194 in Mansa, 2,170 in Moga and 2,112 in Barnala. The state had reported 69,300 and 47,788 stubble burning incidents in the corresponding period of 2021 and 2022, respectively. Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is considered one of the reasons behind the alarming spike in air pollution levels in the national capital in October and November. Meanwhile, Haryana s Fatehabad reported an air quality index (AQI) of 409, followed by 371 in Faridabad, 362 in Bhiwani, 357 in Hisar, 351 in Sonipat, 341 in Gurugram, 311 in Rohtak and 301 in Narnaul. In Punjab, Mandi Gobindgarh reported AQI at 239, followed by 222 in Jalandhar, 208 in Ludhiana, 197 in Rupnagar, 188 in Amritsar, 172 in Patiala and 141 in Khanna. The Union Territory of Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, saw an AQI of 132. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good , 51 and 100 satisfactory , 101 and 200 moderate , 201 and 300 poor , 301 and 400 very poor , and 401 and 500 severe . Meanwhile, the National Green Tribunal has directed the authorities, including the Central Pollution Control Board and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, to take stringent measures to improve the AQI in Delhi-NCR. Observing that there has been no visible improvement in the national capital s air quality, the green panel directed the authorities concerned to file a fresh action taken report by November 20. A bench of National Green Tribunal Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava had earlier taken suo motu cognisance of various newspaper reports about Delhi s worsening air quality and issued notices to the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Commission for Air Quality Management for NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM). The bench, also comprising Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Expert Member A Senthil Vel, noted that reports were filed by the DPCC, CAQM and the Delhi government. The tribunal, in a recent order, said according to CAQM s report, the Air Quality Index (AQI) was very poor towards the end of October in the wake of highly unfavourable meteorological and climatic conditions because of which restrictions under GRAP Stage II was invoked proactively on October 21. The Centre s Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for Delhi-NCR categorises actions into four stages: Stage I -- Poor (AQI 201-300), Stage II -- Very Poor (AQI 301-400), Stage III -- Severe (AQI 401-450) and Stage IV -- Severe Plus (AQI above 450). An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good , 51 and 100 satisfactory , 101 and 200 moderate , 201 and 300 poor , 301 and 400 very poor , 401 and 450 severe and above 450 severe plus . The bench said, The CPCB report mentions the various heads under which steps are to be taken to comprehensively manage the ambient air quality in Delhi-NCR which include air quality response system, close monitoring and ground level implementation, measures to control industrial pollution, measures to control pollution from diesel generator sets, measures for control of stubble burning, measures for control of dust emissions from construction and demolition sites and roads, AQI and public awareness and media outreach. However, it added that though the CPCB suggested technical interventions to regulate and control pollution, it did not disclose the particulars regarding the extent to which such interventions were applied. (editor dailyworld.in)