Patiala: Data reveals that the national capital’s air quality remains poor even when agricultural fields in Punjab are not being subjected to burning. In the last few years, Delhi has documented elevated pollution levels in Jan and Feb, with air quality consistently falling in the ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ categories.
During the period, Punjab’s pollution levels have remained relatively moderate.
In Jan and Feb this year, the ambient air quality indexes (AQIs) in Delhi were 355 (very poor) and 218 (poor) in comparison to 149 (moderate) and 112 (moderate) in Punjab, which reports no stubble burning during these months. In March, Delhi recorded an AQI of 176 while Punjab’s was 99.
Similarly, last year, Punjab’s pollution levels were 158 AQI (moderate) in Jan and 130 AQI in Feb, in contrast to 311 AQI (very poor) and 237 AQI (poor) respectively in Delhi. In March 2023, Delhi recorded an AQI of 170, while Punjab’s was 100.
In 2022, Delhi recorded an AQI of 279, 225 and 217 in the first three months respectively as opposed to Punjab’s 113, 113 and 119.
In 2021, Delhi recorded an AQI of 324, 288 and 233 in Jan, Feb and March, while Punjab’s were 121, 121 and 108 during the same period.
In 2020, Delhi saw an AQI of 286, 241 and 128 from January to March, whereas Punjab recorded 121, 113 and 67 AQIs in the corresponding months.
Similarly, in the corresponding period in 2019, the AQI in Delhi was 328, 244, and 184 as opposed to Punjab’s 109, 100 and 108.
In the first three months of 2018, Delhi recorded an AQI of 328, 243 and 203, while Punjab’s were 175, 120 and 101 respectively.
Over the past few years, pollution board officials in Punjab have been blaming the alarming rise in Delhi’s pollution on its internal pollution sources. The blame game persists during the onset of winter when burning of crop residue becomes rampant in both Punjab and Haryana.