CAQM reviews Punjab stubble-fire measures during paddy harvest

Farmers in Gharachon village, a stubble-burning hotspot in Punjab’s Sangrur district, told a Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) team that they faced difficulties using machinery intended to manage paddy residue without burning it.

The team, led by CAQM technical member Dr SD Attri and scientist Vijay Kumar, reviewed preparations in Sangrur, Patiala and Malerkotla during the paddy harvest. It met district officials, police, Punjab Pollution Control Board and Agriculture Department staff, as well as Central Pollution Control Board flying squads.

CAQM asked district administrations to ensure that their work on the ground meets targets in their action plans to prevent stubble burning.

The team also visited Bassiark, Kapial and Jhaneri villages in Sangrur’s Bhawanigarh tehsil, and watched a super seeder demonstration in Ahmadabad village in Malerkotla. Farmers there said they would use machinery rather than burn crop residue.

At a paper and duplex board unit on Dhuri Road in Malerkotla, representatives said the unit planned to use about 17,000 metric tonnes of paddy straw annually as boiler fuel. The team also inspected a Nadampur facility that converts straw into biomass pellets for thermal power plants.