Farm fires see sharp decline across Punjab

A sharp decline in fire incidents over the past few days in Punjab has signalled that this year's stubble-burning season is effectively over, with the state reporting half the incidents recorded last year-a reduction that has also significantly lowered the pollution burden on Delhi's air, according to government data.

- Karam Prakash

In the 72 hours till Thursday evening, only 43 farm fire incidents were reported across Punjab. This year, the state has recorded 5,046 cases, a significant drop from the 10,104 incidents documented last year during the same monitoring period.

Data shows the reduction translated into dramatically lower pollution contributions to Delhi. The Decision Support System, which tracks pollution sources, recorded farm fires contributing a peak of 22.74% to Delhi's PM2.5 levels on November 12far below the 35-48% contributions typically seen in early November during previous years. On most days this November, the contribution remained in single digits, occasionally reaching around 16%.