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3h ago

CAQM Sends Flying Squads as Punjab Launches Real-Time Control Room to Curb Stubble Burning

Satellite alerts will trigger immediate SDM response in hotspot districts.

Stubble burning in neighbouring states, including Punjab, is one of the major causes of air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region during the winter.
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Overview

  • Punjab has operationalised a control room in Amritsar that uses satellite data to flag farm fires and dispatch SDM-led teams to counsel farmers on alternatives.
  • Following Sept 25–26 reviews with officials from 23 Punjab and 22 Haryana districts, CAQM will deploy flying squads to track field-level compliance in identified hotspots.
  • A dedicated CAQM coordination cell at Kheti Bhawan in Mohali will oversee paddy-residue management and facilitate real-time cooperation between Punjab and Haryana.
  • CAQM instructed both states to pair incentives with penalties, mobilise crop-residue machinery in line with harvest patterns, step up evening patrolling, and curb open waste burning by local bodies.
  • Punjab reported 80 satellite-detected fire incidents from Sept 15–26, registered 41 FIRs under Section 223 of the BNS, imposed ₹1.95 lakh in environmental compensation with ₹1.65 lakh recovered, and mapped 663 hotspot villages with Sangrur and Ferozepur most affected.