On Wednesday, Bathinda in Punjab recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 340, securing the 20th position for having one of the most polluted air qualities in the country. The day before, Bathinda held the unenviable second spot after Churu in Rajasthan, with an AQI of 400. The most polluted city on Wednesday was Purnia, with an AQI of 398, followed by Delhi at 395. Churu ranked third with an AQI of 391, followed by Hanumangarh (390), Sikar (368), Dholpur (366), Meerut (366), Bikaner (360), Faridabad (356), Fatehabad (355), Rajgir (347), Dausa (346), Kathar (346), Nagaur (346), Ghaziabad (344), Tonk (342), Gurugram (341), Noida (341), and Jind (340).
Despite an improvement in Bathinda’s air quality on Wednesday, it remained the most polluted city in Punjab with ‘very poor’ air quality on both days. The agricultural department of Bathinda reported 30 farm fires on Tuesday and 40 on Wednesday. Hasan Singh, the chief agriculture officer of Bathinda, mentioned that the area under paddy increased from 1.70 lakh hectares in 2022 to 2.32 lakh hectares in 2023. He anticipated a reduction in farm fires in a day or two as people are currently engaged in wheat sowing.
In the ongoing paddy season, Bathinda witnessed 2,900 fire incidents till Wednesday, but the action taken report (ATR) of the Punjab government stated that only 1,778 were actual farm fire incidents, while the rest had other reasons.
Regarding the high AQI despite a reduction in farm fires, Bathinda Deputy Commissioner Showkat Ahmad Parray explained that the lack of air movement in the past few days contributed to the elevated AQI. He emphasized that farm fires alone couldn’t be the sole reason, as vehicular pollution, industrial activities, and crop residue burning collectively influence the AQI. Parray highlighted that increased wind speed helps disperse contaminants, leading to lower concentration levels, and improvement in air quality is expected with air movement or rainfall.
Concerns were raised that air quality in Bathinda might be affected by ongoing farm fires in neighboring districts like Muktsar, Fazilka, Mansa, and Ferozepur. Additionally, Bathinda has a government-owned thermal plant in Lehra Mohabbat village, a private thermal plant in Mansa, two cement factories, a fertilizer unit, and a refinery, all contributing factors that could impact air quality.On Wednesday, Punjab reported 512 farm fires, bringing the total recorded cases since September 15 to 36,118. Moga had the highest number of farm fires (110), followed by Fazilka (95), Muktsar (41), Bathinda (40), and Faridkot (39).
Comparatively, the state had seen 66 and 78 farm fires on the same day in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Out of the total 36,118 farm fires, Sangrur led with 5,596 stubble burning cases, followed by Ferozepur (3,356), Bathinda (2,940), Moga (2,706), and Barnala (2,300). In the corresponding period of 2021 and 2022, the state reported 70,945 and 49,604 stubble burning incidents, respectively.
