Capital now in midst of worst bad air spell

The national capital on Thursday recorded an average AQI of 437, making this year’s crisis the longest the citizens in Delhi have had to endure as authorities scrambled for solutions and prepared for another tough day at the Supreme Court.

- Abhishek Jha and Jasjeev Gandhiok

As the chokehold of bad air continues — weather forecasters said marginal relief is only likely over the weekend — the focus also shifted to farmlands in Punjab, where the state government was told to pull up its socks, first by the Supreme Court on Tuesday and then by the Union government on Thursday.

“For the period from 15th September to 7th November, a total of 22,644 stubble burning events have been recorded, out of which 20,978 (93%) were in Punjab and 1,605 (7%) in Haryana,” an official said, asking not to be named, following a high-level meeting chaired by the Union cabinet secretary who issued directions — primarily to Punjab — to halt the practice among farmers to set alight paddy stubble.

The Centre asked the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to send out flying squads to Punjab and Haryana for daily assessments on whether the Supreme Court’s Tuesday directive on farm fires was being complied with. It also noted how the government of Punjab under the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) launched schemes “so that stubble burning can be prevented in the remaining part of this year and next year”.

Taking Thursday’s 4pm average air quality index (AQI) of 437, the city has now recorded “severe” air pollution on seven of the nine days this month. On the two days with the mild improvements, the pollution level was still on the cusp of severe, coming in at 392 on November 2 and 397 on November 7.