Punjab recorded its highest single-day count of stubble-burning incidents this season, with 1,251 farm fires reported on Monday.
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According to data from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), this has raised the total number of such cases in the state to 9,655.
The surge underscores the ongoing challenge of stubble burning, a major contributor to air pollution in northern India. Monday's figures have surpassed the daily tallies of the past three years, with 701 incidents reported on the same day in 2022 and 637 in 2023.
Officials from the PPCB have emphasised the need for stricter enforcement and greater cooperation from farmers to tackle the issue.
Amid worsening air quality in Delhi, stubble burning continued in parts of Punjab, with incidents reported in fields in the Karamgarh village of Sri Muktsar Sahib.
Earlier, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) took a significant step to curb stubble burning by issuing orders to ensure the imposition of revised Environmental Compensation (EC) for such cases.
The directive, issued on November 7, 2024, was addressed to the Chief Secretaries of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi, as per a press release from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.