The “Smog Season” has officially intensified as Haryana’s agricultural heartland recorded a sharp uptick in residue burning. The detection of 120 fires in a single 24-hour window indicates that the narrow window between the paddy harvest and wheat sowing is once again pushing farmers toward the matchstick.
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District Breakdown:
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Karnal: Leading the state with 37 fire incidents.
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Kurukshetra: Following closely with 27 cases.
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Others: Kaithal, Ambala, and Faridabad each reported 9 incidents, while Sonipat and Yamunanagar recorded 8 each.
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The “Seven District” Crisis: Data indicates that these seven districts account for 107 out of the total 127 cases recorded so far this season. Environmental experts from the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) noted that while the state has over 90,000 crop residue management (CRM) machines, accessibility for marginal farmers remains a hurdle.
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Administrative Crackdown: In response to the spike, the Haryana Agriculture Department has reiterated its “Red Entry” policy. Farmers found burning stubble will be barred from selling their produce on the e-Kharid portal for the next two seasons.
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Economic Alternatives: Officials are pushing for the use of bio-decomposers and are encouraging farmers to sell crop residue to biomass power plants and ethanol units, though the logistics of transporting stubble still pose a challenge for many.
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Air Quality Warning: The sudden increase in fire counts coincided with a dip in air quality across the NCR. Scientists warned that if the daily count remains above 100 for the next week, the cumulative effect could lead to a “Very Poor” AQI level across northern Haryana and Delhi.
Expert Take: “The government must ensure that the machines are not just present in the district but are reaching the fields on time,” says Anumita Roy Chowdhury of CSE. The state government has already deployed thousands of nodal officers to monitor the fields, but today’s data shows that ground-level enforcement is struggling to keep pace with the harvest.
