Farm fires hit season’s high in Punjab, Delhi air quality plummets to ‘very poor’

Over the past four days, Delhi’s air quality has swung sharply between the ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ categories, with the AQI touching 373 on Thursday and again rising to 303 on Saturday. Experts say the sudden rise is due to smoke from stubble burning in Punjab, emissions from vehicles, industries, and waste burning, along with calm weather and low wind speeds that trap pollutants. Jhajjar in Haryana has been a major contributor because of both farm fires and coal power plants. Authorities have now banned older commercial vehicles from entering Delhi, while the environment minister inspected pollution hotspots. Meanwhile, AAP accused the BJP-led government of manipulating AQI readings using water sprinklers near monitoring stations.

Read the complete report here: Farm fires hit season’s high in Punjab, Delhi air quality plummets to ‘very poor’