Centre for Air Quality Management (CAQM) Responds to Supreme Court Allegations

• CAQM argues that its interventions reduced farm fires in Punjab by 71% and in Haryana by 44% over four years.

• The CAQM objected to petitioners’ push for retired judges to supervise the drive against crop burning.

• At its inception in 2021, stubble burning incidents in Punjab numbered 70,856 and 6,464 in Haryana.

• Since then, incidents have steadily declined, with incidents in Punjab and Haryana reaching 49,283, 35,093, and 10,104 respectively.

• CAQM has inspected 9,304 fields in Punjab and 1,153 in Haryana as of November 19.

• The cumulative number of cases in which environmental compensation has been imposed were 4,915 and 545 in Punjab and Haryana, respectively.

• CAQM has registered 5,038 FIRs in Punjab and 574 in Haryana under Section 223 of the BNS.

• CAQM is developing a protocol for burnt area assessment to capture the exact number of farm fires from blackened fields.