Delhi and the surrounding areas continue to choke on hazardous air quality. As recorded on the October 29 morning the Air Quality Index (AQI) touched 309. It is plummeting to “very poor” levels, according to SAFAR data.
Delhi chokes on toxic air
The air quality index (AQI) at the Delhi airport (T3) is 232, at Delhi University it is 341, and at Dhirpur it is 362. Neighboring Noida has an even worse AQI of 372, while Gurugram’s AQI is 221.
On Saturday, the air quality in Delhi deteriorated to 304. It worsened from the “poor” category of 261 on Friday. The AQI stood at 256, 243, and 220 on Thursday, Wednesday and Tuesday respectively. As reported by the Central Pollution Control Board. Weather monitoring agencies predict that the AQI will worsen further. Due to unfavourable meteorological conditions.
Gopal Rai said that stubble burning is a major contributor to Delhi’s pollution. Air pollution may increase in the coming days due to unfavourable weather conditions.
There have been only around 2,500 stubble-burning incidents so far this year. Compared to 5,000 such cases during the same period last year, Rai told reporters.
AAP used to claim that Delhi’s toxic air is due to the burning of rice stubble in Punjab and other states. But the party is criticised for downplaying the issue after coming to power in Punjab in 2022.
What are the stats?
The IARI reports that Punjab had the most stubble-burning cases in 2022. With 49,922 farm fires, down from 71,304 in 2021 and 83,002 in 2020.
There were 50,738 incidents of stubble burning in Punjab in 2019, 59,684 in 2018, 67,079 in 2017, and 102,379 in 2016. It is important to note that stubble-burning is not alone in the case of pollution in Delhi.