Bathinda: Punjab recorded 123 stubble-burning cases in 24 hours on Sunday, taking its season tally to 343 and narrowing the gap with Madhya Pradesh , which remained the worst-affected state with 366 cases. Across seven states, 208 farm fires were reported in a day, taking the cumulative count to 1,073 — the highest daily tally so far this season.




Rajasthan reported 49 cases on Sunday, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 14, Madhya Pradesh 12, Uttarakhand nine and Haryana one. The cumulative tally stood at 173 in Rajasthan, 148 in UP, 33 in Uttarakhand, nine in Haryana and one in Delhi.




Despite a high-level team from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) visiting Punjab and directing officials to intensify efforts to curb farm fires, border districts Tarn Taran and Amritsar remained the biggest hotspots. Tarn Taran has reported 166 cases this season and Amritsar 111 — the highest and second-highest district tallies across the seven states.




With farm fires surging, enforcement has also intensified. Punjab has registered 22 FIRs under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for disobedience of orders issued by public servants. Tarn Taran accounted for 14 cases, Amritsar three, Gurdaspur two, and Ferozepur, Sangrur and Patiala one each.




Environmental compensation of Rs 4.10 lakh has been imposed in 80 cases, of which Rs 1.95 lakh has been recovered. Red entries have been made in land records in 57 cases — 39 in Tarn Taran, nine in Amritsar, six in Ferozepur, two in Jalandhar and one in Sangrur. Warning or show-cause notices have also been issued to 94 nodal and supervisory officers.




According to the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modeling from Space (CREAMS), stubble burning has been reported in 114 districts across the seven states, including 18 in Punjab.