Punjab reported 1,251 fresh farm fires on Monday even as the air quality level in Delhi continue to remain in the 'severe' category.
According to a report in PTI, the farm fires in the last 24 hours were the season's highest, while the total instances of farm fires have reached 9,655.
The state had reported 730 farm fire incidents on November 8, which was the highest in a day this season till Monday.
On Monday, Muktsar district reported 247 stubble burning incidents, the highest in the state, followed by Moga (149), Ferozepur (130), Bathinda (129), Fazilka (94) and Faridkot (88), the data showed.
The report said that on the same day in 2022 and 2023, Punjab had reported 701 and 637 active firm fire cases. From September 15 till November 18, Punjab witnessed 9,655 stubble burning incidents, registering around 71 per cent dip in crop residue burnings in comparison to the figures reported in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Punjab saw 48,489 and 33,719 farm fire cases during the same period in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is often blamed for the rise in air pollution in Delhi-NCR after the harvesting of paddy in October-November. As the window for the Rabi crop -- wheat -- is very short after paddy harvest, some farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear the crop residue for sowing new crop.
The state recorded a total of 36,663 farm fire cases in 2023, registering a 26 per cent drop as compared to the previous year, the data showed.