• Following multiple raps by the Supreme Court for inadequately addressing stubble burning, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), based here and charged with addressing air pollution in the Delhi capital region and surrounding States, has doubled the fines applicable to farmers caught indulging in it.
  • Nodal or supervisory officers appointed by State governments in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, NCR areas of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh were “empowered” to impose and collect Environmental Compensation from farmers causing air pollution by stubble burning, as per “revised rates,” the order notes.
  • Thus farmers who have less than two acres of farm-holding and was expected to pay ₹2,500 for each incidence will now have to pay ₹5,000, those with between two acres and five acres will see their fines double to ₹10,000 and those with more than five acres to ₹30,000.
  • The fines come even as farm fires in Punjab and Haryana show a declining trend and those in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh show an aggregate rising trend, according to a Thursday bulletin by the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space Laboratory, Indian Agricultural Research Institute. The organisation reports instances of fires as observed by satellites. Since November 1, there has been a rising trend in the contribution of stubble burning to PM2.5 concentrations in Delhi. From about 14% in mid-October it has remained above 20% until November 7 with a peak of 35% on November 1.