Gurgaon: With wheat stubble burning emerging as a major springtime pollution source in NCR, Haryana will carry out an exercise this year — mapping every farm in villages and specifying, plot by plot, how wheat residue will be managed during the harvest.The move follows new directions from Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), which has stepped up scrutiny of wheat-season fires after last year’s spike across north India.While wheat residue burning has traditionally drawn less attention than paddy fires, CAQM says it is now a key contributor to pollution in April and May. During the wheat season in 2025, Haryana recorded 1,832 fires between April 1 and May 31, Punjab logged over 10,200 incidents, and NCR districts of UP reported 259. Officials cited labour shortages, high residue-handling costs and limited availability of crop residue management (CRM) machinery during peak harvesting days as major drivers of the increase. A shift towards wheat, supported by assured procurement, has also raised residue volumes.In response, Haryana has been directed to implement a farm-by-farm management plan specifying if straw will be incorporated into soil, used as fodder, diverted for ex-situ applications, or managed through crop diversification. For tighter monitoring, each district must tag nodal officers to farmers, with one officer responsible for no more than 100 cultivators.A senior agriculture department official said Haryana has already begun preparing implementation plans. “This wheat season, our focus is on strict field-level monitoring and ensuring that every farmer gets access to the machinery and support needed to avoid burning. We are implementing systems so that no farmer should feel burning is the only option,” the official said.A key focus of the directive is timely and adequate availability of machines. States have been instructed to provide access through a mobile app and ensure that small and marginal farmers receive rent-free equipment via custom hiring centres (CHCs). The commission said machinery shortage during the narrow harvesting window remains one of the biggest triggers for burning.Haryana has also been asked to strengthen wheat-straw storage infrastructure to prevent accidental fires and maintain stable fodder supplies through the year. Each district must build a residue supply chain to enable rapid collection, storage, and transport for industries that can use the straw.To tighten enforcement, CAQM has directed the state to form a dedicated “parali protection force” at district and block levels. The task force — comprising police, agriculture officials and local administrators — will conduct intensive patrolling, especially late in the evening and at night, when farmers often set fields on fire to avoid satellite detection.The regulator has also called for strict imposition and recovery of environmental compensation from violators, along with large-scale awareness campaigns on alternatives to burning and the health risks linked to crop-residue fires.Haryana, along with Punjab and UP, must submit monthly progress reports to CAQM. The commission said it will closely monitor compliance, noting that wheat stubble burning, once seen as a relatively minor issue, has become a serious and under-recognised threat to NCR’s air quality during spring.
