Significant reduction in paddy crop residue burning events in the current year is reflective of vigorous and consistent efforts made by Central Government and State Governments and other stakeholders.
As per the figures based on Standard ISRO Protocol for monitoring paddy crop residue burning events, the total paddy crop residue burning events during the period 15.09.2022 to 30.11.2022 in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and NCR Districts of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) and Rajasthan have come down from 78,550 in 2021 to 53,792 in 2022, i.e., a reduction of 31.5%.

The Central Government, under its CRM Scheme, has released more than Rs. 3,062 crores, to the Government of Punjab, NCR State Governments and GNCTD during the five-year period from 2018-19 to 2022-23 towards effective management of stubble in the region. Of the total releases, more than Rs. 1,426 crores have been released to State Government of Punjab.
Regarding availability of machinery for crop residue management procured through the scheme so far, Punjab has about 1.20 Lakh machines; Haryana about 72,700 and U.P. (NCR) about 7,480 machines. During the period, about 38,400 Custom Hiring Centers (CHCs) have been established in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, of which about 24,200 CHCs are in Punjab and about 6,775 in Haryana.
were 250 in 2022 as compared to 363 in 2021, i.e., a reduction of about 31.1%. Hisar, Karnal, Palwal, Panipat, and Sonipat reported more than 50% reduction in active fire counts this year.
Maximum reduction in active fire events in Haryana this year was reported from Fatehabad district with a reduction of 712 fire counts (from 1479 to 767).
Though there is overall reduction in the area monitored, two (02) Districts of Punjab (Bhatinda and Fazilka); one (01) NCR District of U.P. (Bulandsahar); and one (01) District of Haryana (Yamuna Nagar) have reported significantly higher number of farm fire counts as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
Maximum contribution of farm fires to the daily PM2.5 levels in Delhi was 34% in current year (on 3/11/2022) as against 48% last year (on 7/11/2021). The daily Average AQI of Delhi in November, 2022 registered an improvement at 320.60 as compared to 376.50 in November, 2021, i.e., a reduction of about 56 points.
