Bathinda: Madhya Pradesh has surged ahead of Punjab in the number of farm fire incidents this season, while Uttar Pradesh is fast closing the gap, according to official data on crop residue burning.Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of stubble-burning cases on Friday at nine, followed by six in Madhya Pradesh, five in Rajasthan and two each in Punjab and Haryana. A total of 24 farm fire cases were reported across states during the day.With the latest additions, Madhya Pradesh has emerged as the worst-affected state with 194 crop residue burning cases recorded till October 9. Punjab follows with 109 cases, just ahead of Uttar Pradesh at 108. Rajasthan has reported 28 cases, Haryana seven, and Delhi and Uttarakhand one each, taking the total number of farm fire incidents across the seven states to 448.Punjab crossed the 100-case mark on October 7, while Uttar Pradesh reached the same milestone on October 9.According to the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space (CREAMS), stubble burning has so far been reported from 80 districts across the seven states, including 12 districts in Punjab. Amritsar has recorded the highest number of farm fire incidents among all districts, with 59 cases.As farm fire incidents begin to pick up, enforcement action has also intensified in Punjab. One FIR has been registered under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in Patiala for disobedience of an order duly promulgated by a public servant.Authorities have imposed environmental compensation of Rs 2 lakh in 40 cases, of which Rs 1.05 lakh has been recovered. Red entries have been made in land records in 16 cases, while warning and show-cause notices have been issued to 42 nodal and supervisory officers.Crop residue burning cases till Oct 9Madhya Pradesh: 194Punjab: 109Uttar Pradesh: 108Rajasthan: 28Haryana: 7Delhi: 1Uttarakhand: 1Total: 448
