Patiala, Nov. 6 -- With paddy harvesting in Punjab hitting the 87% mark, the Malwa region is emerging as a major contributor to the continuing surge in stubble-burning incidents.

A total of 440 fresh cases were reported in the past 24 hours, taking the state's cumulative farm-fire count since September 15 to 2,787 on Thursday, according to the latest monitoring report of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM).

Sangrur, Bathinda and Patiala accounted for the highest number of fresh incidents among the districts, with 77, 49 and 46 cases, respectively. Ferozepur also reported 45 fresh fires, while Barnala added 33 to the tally. All five districts fall in the Malwa belt.

The current count is now just 146 cases short of last year...