Bathinda: In a concerning development during the ongoing wheat harvesting season, Punjab has for the first time emerged as the worst performer in crop residue burning, surpassing not only other states but also Haryana in cumulative cases.
Rise in Farm Fire Incidents
The state reported 341 incidents on Friday, taking its total to 1,759 — edging past Haryana's 1,709. Of the total cases so far, Punjab reported 1,490 in the last five days — over 84% of the season's tally. The state logged 341 incidents on May 1, 342 on April 30, 447 on April 29, 135 on April 28 and 225 on April 27.
Comparison with Other States
Till now, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh led farm fire cases, but on Friday Punjab surged ahead, reporting 341 incidents against 158 in MP and 70 in UP. Total farm fire cases this season have crossed 49,000, reaching 49,243, with MP accounting for 32,369 — over 65% of the total.
According to the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modeling From Space (CREAMS), MP has contributed over 51% of cases in the past five years. Of the 2,47,782 incidents recorded from 2022 to May 1, 2026, 1,27,055 were from MP, followed by 59,369 from UP, 49,736 from Punjab, 11,478 from Haryana and 144 from Delhi. Vidisha district in MP has reported the highest number of cases (3,937), while 75 districts across MP, UP, Punjab and Haryana have logged over 100 incidents each till May 1.
Previous Season Data
During the 2025 kharif season as well, MP topped stubble burning with 17,067 cases, followed by UP (7,290) and Punjab (5,114) till Nov 30.
Action Taken Report
The action taken report dashboard by Punjab Pollution Control Board did not upload the data for April 30 and May 1 by Friday evening. Earlier, by the evening of April 29, Punjab had registered 17 FIRs under Section 223 of the BNS (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant), made 25 red entries in land records, and imposed Rs 1.9 lakh as environmental compensation in 34 farm fire cases.
Crop Residue Burning Cases Till May 1
- MP: 32,369
- UP: 13,378
- Punjab: 1,759
- Haryana: 1,709
- Delhi: 28
- Total: 49,243
