Punjab & Haryana farm fires nearly vanish - so why is Delhi-NCR's air pollution still rising?

Farm fire

Delhi-NCR is continuing to struggle with extremely polluted air, even as Punjab and Haryana has reported a massive decline in stubble-burning incidents. Cities in western Uttar Pradesh - Ghaziabad, Hapur and Noida, emerged as the most polluted in the country, recording daily average Air Quality Index (AQI) levels in the ‘severe’ category on Sunday, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Ghaziabad registered an AQI of 437, followed by Hapur at 420 and Noida at 418, making them the top three most polluted cities in India for the day. Delhi also remained blanketed in hazardous air, recording an AQI of 391.

On Monday morning, the trend continued to be the same. Delhi overall AQI stood at 398. In the neighbouring NCR cities, Noida entered the severe category with an AQI of 431, while Greater Noida recorded a “very poor” AQI of 354.

Ghaziabad continued to battle toxic air, recording 439 in the severe range. Gurugram reported very poor air quality at 351. Faridabad remained slightly better with an AQI of 269.

Farm fire contribution drops sharply

According to the latest available numbers by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), there has been a significant fall in the contribution of farm fires to Delhi’s PM2.5 levels.

As of Saturday, the share of stubble-burning emissions had dropped to 2.6%, the lowest this season, compared to 16% on November 17. Transport emissions remained high, contributing nearly 14% to Delhi’s pollution load.

Experts say that the typical weather conditions of late November, slow surface winds, falling temperatures, and pollution carried by westerly winds, continue to trap pollutants near the ground, worsening local air quality despite fewer farm fires.

Punjab & Haryana see almost no fires

According to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Punjab recorded just 3 farm fires on Sunday, while Haryana had only one. In contrast, Uttar Pradesh saw 522 fire incidents, Madhya Pradesh reported 607, and Rajasthan registered 21.

Between September 15 and November 23, a total of 27,720 burning events were detected across six states, distributed as 5,088, 617, 5,622, 5, 2,804 and 13,584 in Punjab, Haryana, UP, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, respectively.

Experts say the peak stubble-burning period has now ended, as it typically tapers off by the third week of November.

What is the cause of pollution then?

Air quality experts note that the haze currently seen over Delhi-NCR is mostly due to local and year-round pollution sources. “Farm fire contribution reached a peak of 22% for a brief period this season, much lower than last year’s peak of 38%. What we are seeing now is mostly pollution from vehicles, industries, power plants, waste burning and dust,” The Indian Express quoted Dr Manoj Kumar, air quality analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), as saying.

Dr Kumar added that excess monsoon rainfall, which was expected to delay the peak stubble-burning period, did not have much impact. Despite the drop in fire counts, high pollution levels persisted due to continued emissions from both local sources and pollutants transported from neighbouring regions.