Tarn Taran topped among the districts in Punjab with 160 farm fires while Amritsar reports 97 incidents on Diwali. The highest number of stubble burning cases were reported in both Punjab and Haryana on the Diwali night.
According to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Punjab recorded 1,019 incidents of crop residue burning while Haryana reported 250 cases. Both the border cities- Tarn Taran and Amritsar witnessed the maximum number of farm fires in the state so far.
“Due to the delay due to rain in the paddy cropping season, farmers are left with a shorter window to prepare their field for the rabi crops. This will lead to a rise in residue-burning incidents in the coming days” said Harmeet Singh Kadian, Leader of Bharat Kisan Union.
He said both the central and state governments have backtracked from their promise of providing cash incentives to small and marginal farmers for stubble management. He also stated that the union will protest any police action against farmers burning stubble.