Chandigarh, April 9
The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has been conferred the SKOCH Silver Award 2025 in the Environment category for its project titled “From Crisis to Breakthrough – Punjab’s Clean Air Transformation,” recognising the state’s sustained efforts in effective stubble burning management and achieving a 92% reduction in farm fire incidents. The award was presented at the 107th SKOCH Summit, “Governance Transformed,” held at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
Over the past five years, Punjab has made significant strides in addressing the challenge of stubble burning through coordinated, multi-departmental efforts. This has involved a combination of real-time monitoring and enforcement, along with long-term structural interventions such as large-scale deployment of crop residue management (CRM) machinery, strengthening of Custom Hiring Centres, and a substantial increase in ex-situ utilisation of paddy straw – from 8.8 lakh tonnes per annum to over 40 lakh tonnes annually – facilitated significantly by PPCB.
Reena Gupta, Chairperson, PPCB, stated, “We are honoured to receive this national recognition. It reflects the Government of Punjab’s strong commitment to addressing a complex environmental challenge that impacts not just the state but the entire Indo-Gangetic Plain. This achievement is the result of sustained, collective action across multiple stakeholders.”
While the progress has been substantial, the state continues to build on this momentum with targeted action plans aimed at eliminating stubble burning in the coming years, positioning Punjab as a model for replication across other states. The SKOCH Award is highly competitive, involving a rigorous multi-stage evaluation process, including detailed submissions, presentations before an expert jury, and public voting rounds. PPCB’s initiative was selected among several high-impact projects from across the country, underscoring its effectiveness and scalability.
