Punjab on Tuesday reported 513 incidents of stubble burning, taking the total number of such cases to 35,606 since September 15.
On the same day in 2021 and 2022, the state had seen 168 and 243 farm fires respectively.
Of the total farm fires reported on Tuesday, Fazilka saw the maximum at 105, followed by 81 in Moga, 58 in Ferozepur, 47 in Muktsar and 40 in Barnala, according to the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre data.
Out of the 35,606 farm fires recorded from September 15 till November 21, Sangrur is leading with maximum stubble burning cases of 5,565, followed by 3,322 in Ferozepur, 2,900 in Bathinda, 2,596 in Moga and 2,226 in Barnala.
The state reported 70,879 and 49,526 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.
Pollution levels in Delhi and its suburbs increased further overnight with the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the capital recorded at 365 at 9 am on Tuesday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.
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'.
Air quality indices remained in 'very poor' and 'poor' categories in many parts of Haryana and Punjab.
Haryana's Rohtak reported an AQI of 338, followed by 334 in Hisar, 333 in Fatehabad, 332 in Gurugram, 332 in Bhiwani, 322 in Faridabad, 307 in Sirsa and 258 in Kaithal.
In Punjab, Bathinda reported AQI at 398, followed by 278 in Mandi Gobindgarh, 240 in Ludhiana, 238 in Jalandhar, 199 in Khanna, 193 in Patiala, 165 in Rupnagar and 151 in Amritsar.
The Union Territory of Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, saw an AQI of 183.
-With PTI Input
