crop burning

Rice farmers Siriporn and Amnat Taidee used to burn their paddy fields between plantings -- a common method of clearing crop residue partly blamed fortoxic smog that blankets much of Thailand every spring. "My life has changed," said Siriporn, 63, as she sloshed through a verdant paddy field in Chiang Rai.

India's annual PM2.5 levels dipped slightly in 2025 but remain nearly ten times the WHO guideline, ranking the country sixth most polluted globally. Despite incremental gains, cities like Mumbai still face pollution far exceeding safety norms, with Loni in Uttar Pradesh emerging as the most polluted.

For the eighth consecutive year, New Delhi has been named the most polluted capital in the world, with hazardous PM2.5 levels exceeding the WHO's safe threshold by an alarming 16.4 times. Although there has been a slight uplift since 2024, factors such as seasonal smog, dust storms, and agricultural burning continue to shroud the Indo-Gangetic plain in poor air quality.

The SC has kept in abeyance its October 16 order appointing one-man panel of retired apex court judge to monitor the steps taken by neighbouring states to prevent stubble burning, which is a major cause of pollution in Delhi-NCR. The SC passed the order while considering the Centre's stand that it is coming out with a comprehensive legislation to deal with air pollution.

Agriculture and cane department officials are now keeping a hawk eye on the crop residue burning incidents in the state to improve the air quality index. Since harvesting began this season, UP has recorded 4,600 crop burning incidents.

The NASA images reveal a larger and more significant trend, the practice of crop-burning is down sharply in comparison with the same period last year.

The district administration has decided to impose a fine of Rs 2,500 per acre on farmers found burning stubble. It formed teams at the district level, sub-division level and village level to keep an eye on crop fires on Wednesday. The move comes in view of an increase in pollution levels during winter.

The Delhi government has written a letter to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, requesting prevention of burning of agriculture residue in winter months to minimize air pollution in the national capital.

The pilot project to use bio-decomposers in 5,000 acres to deal with stubble burning is ongoing in Punjab but is unlikely to make a major difference this time to convince farmers who are in a hurry to clear their fields to sow wheat.

State cabinet headed by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday decided to provide subsidies to farmers buying crop residue management machines, to discourage the burning of agricultural stubble.

The green panel directed that 25 per cent of the costs imposed would be deposited with the Central Pollution Control Board, 25 per cent with the Delhi Pollution Control Committee and remaining 50 per cent with the Legal Aid Committee of the National Green Tribunal.

There has been a sharp increase in pollution levels in the city in the last two days, a surge experts have blamed on rampant crop burning in villages on the outskirts.

In a hearing on an ongoing case in the National Green Tribunal based on prevention and abolition of crop burning, a principal bench of the Tribunal has asked all states to take strict action for compliance with a December 2015 order where the court had imposed a ban on crop burning across India.

To minimize air pollution in the national capital, the Delhi government has written a letter to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, requesting him to ensure that farmers in western parts of the state do not burn their agricultural residue during winter months.

The city of Bhubaneswar in India is hosting the Men's Hockey World Cup this year, and as a result, the air quality has been a concern. Particulate matter (PM) 10 and PM 25 levels in the city's ambient air have remained above the permissible limit, and the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has introduced a five-pronged strategy to try to improve air quality. Among these measures are completely banning burning of municipal garbage, putting a curb on stubble burning, and asking sanitation workers to ensure that waste is not burned. PM 10 levels around the capital police station area have been particularly high, and the average PM 10 levels taken together during the days when pollution data was obtained in December in the city is found to be moderately high. The main concern in air pollution in Bhubaneswar is PM 25 levels, which are satisfactory in comparison to other pollutants. The commissioner added that they have started putting up green nets along the work sites to catch dust from mixing with the air, and they have also utilised dust-generating places for landscaping and beautification.