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The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has issued a notice to the Deputy Commissioner of Fatehabad, Haryana, for failing to enforce the ban on paddy stubble burning. As per the CAQM, 59 incidents of stubble burning were reported in Fatehabad between September 15 and November 6, 2025. This was despite prior directions to eliminate stubble burning and a series of meetings to review the progress on its directions.
The CAQM pointed out that this was a major lapse of compliance, especially given the sharp rise in fire incidents in early November.
As a result of this apparent failure in compliance, the Deputy Commissioner has been asked to provide an explanation by November 17 or face legal action under the Air Quality Management Act.
If negligence is found on part of the Deputy Commissioner, the offence is punishable with imprisonment for a term extending up to five years or with fine up to Rs 1 crore or with both.
The Commission said that despite state-level meetings on September 26, Haryana recorded 206 farm fires between September 15 and November 6. The CAQM further noted that another meeting was held on November 7, but despite that 28 farm fires were recorded in Fatehabad.
The air quality index of Haryana has been suffering for quite some time now. The AQI IN Fatehabad reached 478 at 7 am on Wednesday, as per aqi.in. This is equivalent to smoking 12 cigarettes a day.
The AQI was even higher in Gurgaon in the morning with the reading climbing up to 580 at 9 am from 570 at 7 am. The Chandigarh air was a tad cleaner with the 7 am AQI reaching 290 and then steadily going down throughout the day.
The overall AQI in Haryana was 469 at 7 am.
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