Delhi-NCR's Average AQI Worsens As Stubble Burning Continues In Different States: Know The Data

Delhi's air quality neared the "severe" zone amid adverse meteorological conditions and stubble-burning incidents in neighbouring states such as Punjab and Haryana. Know the data pertaining to it.

File Photos: People walk down a road towards the Rashtrapati Bhawan amid low visibility due to smog, at Kartavya Path in New Delhi | A farmer burns paddy stubble at a farm on the outskirts of Amritsar.

Source : PTI

New Delhi: The National Capital Region every year battles air pollution at alarming levels as a combination of environmental factors and stubble burning cause deterioration in air quality.

On Saturday morning, Delhi's air quality neared the "severe" zone amid adverse meteorological conditions such as low temperatures and calm winds along with stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana among other neighbouring states.

The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi stood at 396 at 10 am, worsening from 357 at 4 pm on Friday. It was 354 on Thursday, 271 on Wednesday, 302 on Tuesday, and 312 on Monday (Diwali).

Anand Vihar (AQI 454) was the most polluted place in the capital. Wazirpur (439), Narela (423), Ashok Vihar (428), Vivek Vihar (427), and Jahangirpuri (438) were among the monitoring stations that recorded "severe" air quality, news agency PTI reported.

The air quality in the neighbouring cities of Ghaziabad (381), Noida (392), Greater Noida (398), Gurugram (360), and Faridabad (391) also inched closer to the "severe" category.

Here is a look at the AQI in NCR in the past ten days:

Date	Delhi	Noida	Ghaziabad	Gurugram	Faridabad
October 20	232	231	252	189	296
October 21	262	258	300	242	312
October 22	265	290	312	206	280
October 23	259	236	270	251	200
October 24	312	305	300	322	254
October 25	303	299	266	292	289
October 26	271	262	273	244	246
October 27	354	354	373	362	315
October 28	357	371	384	333	346
October 29	396	392	381	360	391

Except for Ghaziabad which showed marginal improvement today, the AQI in the other NCR cities is currently at its worst in the span of 10 days. The data can be seen in relation to the stubble-burning incidents with Punjab contributing majorly (77.44%) to the overall instances reported from the neighbouring states.

State	Total Incidents Of Stubble Burning	Contribution In Percentage
Punjab	10,214	77.44%
Haryana	1,701	12.90%
UP	632	4.79%
Delhi	5	0.04%
Rajasthan	190	1.44%
Madhya Pradesh	448	3.40%
Overall Incidents	13,190

Despite the Punjab government's meetings with farmers to address the issue of Paddy straw management, the data shows that stubble-burning incidents in the state have already risen above the previous year, recording a 34% rise. Rajasthan has also reported a rise of 188% in stubble burning already as 190 incidents have been reported so far this year.

On the other hand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh have reported a decline in farm fires this year.

States	Total Incidents Of Stubble Burning	Total Incidents Of Stubble Burning	2022 Vs 2021
	2022	2021	Increase In Incidents	Percentage
Punjab	10,214	7,648	2,566	34%
Haryana	1,701	2,252	-551	-24%
UP	632	805	-173	-21%
Delhi	5	0	5	-
Rajasthan	190	66	124	188%
Madhya Pradesh	448	518	-70	-14%
Overall Incidents	13,190	11,289	1,901	17%

Narrowing in on the farm fires in Punjab, the highest number of incidents have been reported on Friday at 2,067. The lowest count in a five-day period was on October 25 at 181.

• October 28 – 2,067
• October 27– 1,111
• October 26 –1,238
• October 25 – 181
• October 24 – 1,019

However, the worst is not over yet as SAFAR, a forecasting agency under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, predicted that the share of stubble burning in Delhi's pollution is likely to increase in the coming days.

The contribution of stubble burning to Delhi's PM2.5 pollution has so far remained low (up to 7 per cent) due to a prolonged rain spell in early October and slow transport-level winds which were not strong enough to carry smoke from farm fires to the national capital.

Last year, the share of farm fires in Delhi's PM 2.5 pollution peaked at 48 per cent on November 7.

Other contributing factors include meteorological conditions such as low temperatures and calm winds as in cold conditions, pollutants are trapped close to the ground because of low mixing height -- the vertical height at which pollutants are suspended in the air.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe".

(With Agency Inputs)