Patiala, Sept. 25 -- As Punjab braces for stubble-burning season, the debate surrounding its impact on Delhi's air quality has again gained prominence. With rising farm fires contributing to the region's pollution, Reena Gupta, chairperson of the Punjab Pollution Control Board, spoke to HT about the challenges the state faces, the misconceptions surrounding farmers and the way forward to address this ongoing issue. Yes, this year we have introduced the "Parali Protection Force", comprising a four-member team, headed by an agriculture development officer, in each of the state's 154 blocks. This is in addition to the 10,500 field staff already appointed across the state. The force will supervise these field staff at the block level and report to the respective sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs). This added layer of supervision should help improve enforcement and tackle the problem more effectively. Coercive measures like penalties may lead to a decrease in farm fire incidents. However, we need to understand that this is a larger agricultural issue. The long-term solution lies in crop diversification. We must recognise that Punjab's farmers are affected by the pollution of stubble burning before it even reaches Delhi. The state government has been petitioning the central government for years to procure all crops at the minimum support price (MSP). Furthermore, we have suggested providing farmers with Rs.2,500 per acre for stubble management, with Rs.1,500 of that coming from the Union government. It's crucial to look at this issue from the farmers' perspective and offer them practical support, rather than demonising them. We have a well-established mechanism for monitoring stubble burning. The issue isn't with the monitoring but with how the data is compiled. Satellite technology detects fire emissions and the data is processed over a 10-day period. So, while we have the data, it isn't always readily available for public access immediately. Yes, though we currently have six continuous monitoring stations, we also have about 135 manual stations across the state. These stations provide valuable data but are not realtime. We are planning to increase the number of continuous monitoring stations in the future, but this requires approval from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). We hope to expand this network soon. So far, there has been no conclusive scientific study linking Punjab's farm fires directly to Delhi's air pollution. I believe we need to look beyond blaming farmers. Air pollution doesn't stop at state boundaries. We need a comprehensive approach for the entire National Capital Region (NCR), and the central government should take the lead in implementing a region-wide strategy. Blaming individual states won't solve the problem. The geo-stationary satellites sometimes pick up smoke or fire incidents that are not related to stubble burning. For example, garbage fires or industrial smoke can be mistakenly detected as stubble burning, especially when they occur nearby. Additionally, the satellite detects fire at a certain height, which means it can pick up other sources of smoke that aren't related to crop fires. There's always room for error in these satellite readings, which is why we need to be cautious when interpreting the data....