Ludhiana, April 30 -- The district has recorded a sharp decline in farm fire incidents this season, with just 21 cases reported till April 28, according to data from the Punjab Pollution Control Board. The figure marks a steep decline of over 96% compared to last year, when the number of such incidents had crossed 600 during the same period.

Officials said the cumulative cases this year have been identified across 11 inspected fields so far. The encouraging trend comes at a time when wheat harvesting in the district is almost complete, with nearly 99.5% of the total cultivated area of about 2.44 lakh hectares already harvested.

Chief agriculture officer of the district Gurdeep Singh said farm fire incidents are generally reported until ...