MP Records Highest Number Of Stubble Burning Incidents In First 3 Weeks Of April

Madhya Pradesh reported 25,144 incidents of stubble burning between April 1 and 23, highest in the country, official data showed on Friday.

The Vidisha district where the Lok Sabha constituency of Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is located was the worst-hit, recording the highest 3,037 incidents, data from the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space (CREAMS) showed.

On April 23 alone, 545 instances of wheat stubble burning were detected in Vidisha, as per the CREAMS website.

After Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh reported 10,604 cases of wheat residue burning during the same period, according to CREAMS, which tracks such incidents using satellite data.

The highest number of incidents in Madhya Pradesh was recorded on April 23 at 2,669, while the lowest was 327 on April 8.

According to CREAMS website , 36,049 stubble burning incidents were detected between April 1 and 23 across five states. The figures were as follows: 25,144 cases in Madhya Pradesh, 10,604 in Uttar Pradesh, 175 in Haryana, 117 in Punjab and 9 in Delhi.

CREAMS is an inter-disciplinary research initiative of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, coordinated by its Division of Agricultural Physics. It uses remote sensing, agro-meteorology and modelling tools to assess crops and crop environments .

Stubble burning is a major contributor to air pollution, particularly in South Asia, releasing pollutants such as carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2) and particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10). It is linked to respiratory and cardiovascular ailments, besides impacting soil health and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.