Air quality improves in north Haryana districts

KURUKSHETRA: The north Haryana districts on Monday saw some improvement in Air Quality Index (AQI) as compared to Sunday. However, the private and government schools remained closed on Monday due to 'severe' pollution level in several worst-hit districts of the state.


The officials concerned are claiming to have been monitoring the situation round-the-clock and that the things will become better with a change in weather conditions.

The administrative officials have discussed the stubble burning issue and strict orders to register FIRs against the farmers have been issued.

On Sunday, Jind was the most polluted city which recorded AQI at 448, followed by Sirsa (426), Hisar (424), Rohtak (410), Faridabad (403), Panipat (390), Karnal (377), Bhiwani (384), Gurugram (370), Ballabgarh (366), Kurukshetra (365), Fatehabad (362), Palwal (358), Kaithal (355), Yamunanagar (337), Manesar (323), Ambala (321), Sonipat (308), and Bahadurgarh (306).

The AQI is a 24-hour average calculated from 4pm on November 3 to 4pm on November 4.

Meanwhile, the Haryana chief secretary Keshni Anand Arora on Monday held video conferencing with several deputy commissioners and officials concerned in the state and instructed them to submit a daily status report of pollution control measures taken at the district level.

The officials have also been instructed to act strictly and promptly on complaints against the farmers burning stubble.

Ambala deputy director, agriculture, Dr Girish Nagpal said, "As compared to last year, the incidents of stubble burning have declined. Last year up till date, there were around 110 cases of stubble burning whereas the same for this year is 43. Fine worth Rs 95,000 have also been collected from the farmers and FIRs have been registered against 4 erring farmers.”

Kurukshetra deputy commissioner Dr SS Phulia told, “In Kurukshetra, 64 FIRs have been registered in stubble burning incidents. The district panchayat and development officer has been instructed to hold meetings with gram panchayats to spread awareness against stubble burning.”

In Karnal up to Sunday, 92 FIRs were registered in cases of stubble burning.

During a visit to Bilaspur Block in Yamunanagar district, it was found that the Jaggery factories, brick kilns, industrial units are also flouting the pollution norms and contributing to the deteriotrating AQI.

Meanwhile, the AQI has not improved much and the system of detecting fire incidents by satellites is still facing difficulty in accurately monitoring the field due to presence of scattered smog.

Kaithal district topped in stubble burning incidents at 942 cases, followed by Karnal at 895, Kurukshetra at 696, Fatehabad at 617, Ambala at 302, Jind at 243, Sirsa at 205, Palwal at 195, Yamunanagar at 189, Hisar at 47, Panchkula at 18, Panipat at 14, and Sonipat at 13. Other districts including Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Faridabad, Gurugram, Jhajjar, Mahendergarh, Rohtak, and Rewari have recorded between 2-10 cases. Nuh is yet to open its account.