Punjab Stubble Burning Curbs: CAQM Team Visits Farms and Mill

Efforts to curb stubble burning in Punjab took centre stage as a high-level team from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) visited three districts to assess paddy straw management. The team reviewed progress in Sangrur, Patiala and Malerkotla, dated New Delhi, November 1.

The commission told officials to maintain strict surveillance over stubble burning and to continue coordinated action to prevent it. An official statement added that the team asked authorities to honour the commitments made in their action plans and to make sure that field-level work aligns with the goals already set.

At district review meetings, administrators outlined their preparations and the steps being taken to control burning during the harvest season. The team then travelled to the field to see the measures in action.

A key stop was the ex-situ paddy straw use centre on Dhuri Road in Malerkotla. The duplex board and paper unit there runs a 20 TPF boiler fuelled by paddy straw. Industry representatives said the unit plans to use roughly 17,000 metric tonnes of straw each year.

At Ahmedabad village in Malerkotla, the team watched in-situ paddy straw management machines at work and saw a Super Seeder demonstration by the agriculture department. The team also spoke with farmers, who promised not to set fire to their straw and to manage it using in-situ equipment.

In Sangrur's Bhawanigarh tehsil, the team visited several villages, including Gharachon, a designated hotspot. Officials provided information on arrangements for supplying Crop Residue Management machinery to farmers for on-site straw management. The farmers shared the challenges they have faced while using the machines.