While Punjab cools down, MP keeps stubble sizzling

Bathinda: Even as two more crop residue burning cases were reported from Punjab on Friday, taking the count to eight, faraway Madhya Pradesh continued to lead significantly in residue burning activity. Madhya Pradesh reported 1,091 out of 1,423 cases recorded on Friday across various states, pushing its seasonal tally past 22,000 to 22,850. Of the total season count, 16,495 burning incidents originated from Madhya Pradesh alone, accounting for over 72% of all cases documented during the current wheat harvesting season.As per the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modeling From Space (CREAMS), which monitors stubble burning biannually after paddy and wheat harvests, MP has contributed nearly 50% of cases over the last five years. Out of 221,389 total instances reported from 2022 to April 17, 2026, 111,181 were from MP, followed by 52,311 from UP, 47,985 from Punjab, 9,793 from Haryana, and 119 from Delhi. A maximum of 2,600 burning cases were recorded in the Siddharthnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, as 34 districts across MP and UP reported over 100 cases each by April 17. Earlier, during the paddy harvesting of the 2025 kharif season, Madhya Pradesh similarly topped the list, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. By November 30, 2025, MP had recorded 17,067 cases, compared to 7,290 in Uttar Pradesh and 5,114 in Punjab.MSID:: 130336026 413 |