On Wednesday, Environment Minister Gopal Rai voiced concerns about the national capital's increasing pollution. He noted that winds moving in the northwest direction could elevate pollution levels in the National Capital Territory (NCT) as a result of stubble burning in neighbouring states like Haryana and Punjab.
Recently, a study has revealed that stubble burning in Madhya Pradesh is occurring on a much larger scale than in Punjab and Haryana.
Madhya Pradesh has overtaken Punjab and Haryana in the number of stubble burning cases reported last week.
As per the data released by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) for the period from October 19 to October 25, Madhya Pradesh recorded the highest number of stubble burning cases at 536.
On the other hand, Punjab recorded 401 cases of stubble burning last week.
The situation was relatively better in Haryana, which reported 192 cases of residue burning. Consequently, the data from IARI suggests that the issue is becoming more severe in Madhya Pradesh compared to these two states.
Additionally, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan reported more stubble burning cases than Haryana.
Uttar Pradesh had 192 cases last week, while Rajasthan recorded stubble burning in 203 locations.
The Centre on Saturday urged states to strengthen implementation of existing micro-level action plans for crop residue management, as authorities race to prevent the annual air quality crisis in Delhi.
The government data shows stubble burning incidents have decreased 35 per cent in Punjab and 21 per cent in Haryana compared to last year, with overall cases down 51 per cent since 2017.
(With inputs from PTI)
The DNA app is now available for download on the Google Play Store. Please download the app and share your feedback with us.
