Haryana, Punjab Reel Under 'Severe' to 'Very Poor' Air Quality Despite Drop in Stubble-burning Cases

Chandigarh: Several parts of Haryana and Punjab reeled under "severe" to "very poor" air quality on Friday despite a drop in the number of stubble-burning incidents in the two states in the last few day.

According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, Haryana's Gurgaon, Faridabad, Jind, Palwal and Rohtak recorded air quality index (AQI) at 461, 450, 412, 446 and 422 respectively -- all in the severe category.

Narnaul, with an AQI of 306, Bahadurgarh (388) and Hisar (377) reported air quality in the "very poor" category, it said.

Several places in Punjab recorded air pollution in the "very poor" category with Bhatinda recording an AQI of 315 followed by Jalandhar which had an AQI of 304.

The AQI in the Union Territory of Chandigarh, the joint capital of the two states, was recorded at 255 on Friday, up from Thursday's 210.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered "good", 51-100 "satisfactory", 101-200 "moderate", 201-300 "poor", 301-400 "very poor", and 401-500 "severe". Above 500 is "severe-plus or emergency" category.

The number of farm fires in Punjab and Haryana, considered a major reason for the pollution in the region, which includes Delhi, have dropped significantly over the past few days, officials said.

In all, the total farm fire incidents in Punjab between September 23 and November 13 this year were 48,689 as against 42,308 and 44,845 during corresponding period of 2017 and 2018 respectively, officials said. Haryana has reported a total of over 6,000 incidents of farm fires in this season so far.