'Don't know how, but it must stop': SC pulls up Punjab over stubble burning

The Supreme Court directed Rajasthan and other states to follow its earlier order on the issue relating to firecrackers during the festive season

The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the Punjab government over stubble burning and said it must be stopped.

"We want stubble burning stopped. We don't know how you do it, it's your job. But it must be stopped. Something has to be done immediately," the Supreme Court was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times (HT). The apex court also directed Rajasthan and other states to follow its earlier order on the issue relating to firecrackers during the festive season. 

The Supreme Court ordered the Rajasthan government to take steps to minimise air pollution, especially during the festival and said that it is everyone's duty to manage pollution.

The court order came while dealing with an application raising high pollution levels in Udaipur based on the declining air quality index (AQI) and a lack of legislation to demarcate noise pollution levels.

"When it comes to pollution, there is a wrong perception that it is the duty of courts. But it has to be everybody's duty," the court said.

Reacting to Supreme Court's order, former Punjab Dy CM and Congress leader Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said, "Supreme Court should first end pollution of Delhi and Haryana. Earlier Kejriwal used to defame us but now it's their govt in Punjab. It's Government of India's responsibility. The farmers of Punjab who give grains to the country are being defamed today."

Also Read: Delhi's air quality dips to 394, improves slightly to 'very poor' category

Stubble burning in Punjab

On Monday, Punjab reported over 2,000 farm fires even as many parts of Haryana saw air quality indices in the 'severe' and 'very poor' categories while it was 'poor' in areas of the border state.

As farmers continued to set crop residue ablaze, 2,060 fresh stubble-burning incidents were recorded in Punjab, taking the total number of such cases to 19,463 till Monday, according to Ludhiana-based Punjab Remote Sensing Centre data.

Stubble-burning incidents reported from November 1 till November 6 constitute 61 per cent of the total such cases in the current season, according to the data.

The total stubble-burning incidents of 19,463 registered from September 15 till November 6 was 35 per cent less than 29,999 such cases in the corresponding period last year, the data added.

The state had reported 32,734 farm fires during the same period in 2021.