Farmers in Punjab continued to defy the ban on stubble burning with the State reporting 4,741 farm fire incidents on Wednesday.
Though the stubble burning count was lower compared to Tuesday, it was still 59% more than that of the corresponding period in the last year.
According to satellite data collected by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre, Sangrur and Bathinda continued to be the worst-affected districts with the highest number of farm fire incidents of 785 and 676 in a single day, respectively.
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Among other districts, Moga, Mansa and Ferozepur reported farm fire incidents at 493, 460 and 433, respectively, as per the data.
On Tuesday, Punjab had reported the season’s highest farm fire count at 6,668. The State had recorded stubble burning incidents of 165 and 2,983 on November 6 in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Between September 23 and November 6, Punjab reported 42,676 incidents of farm fire, which was almost 41% higher than stubble burning incidents in the corresponding period last year.
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CM hails SC move
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said he was “happy” that the Supreme Court recognised the need to give financial aid to small and marginal farmers to encourage them to stop burning stubble.
Even as he asserted his government would implement the apex court order as soon as it receives the copy of its judgment, the Chief Minister reiterated that the Centre would have to come to the rescue of the States facing serious fiscal constraints.
While the GST regime had stifled the financial resources of all States, Punjab, in particular, was in a dire straits in view of its massive debt-burden, he noted.
Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court directed Punjab, Haryana and U.P. governments to provide ₹100/quintal support to small and marginal farmers who haven’t burned stubble.