Before the paddy harvest season began, the Punjab government led by the Aam Aadmi Party had set a few targets. One of them was to keep the fire count to zero in six of the state’s 23 districts. But despite improvements, that goal remains elusive.
What Punjab does to reduce its farm fires also improves air quality in AAP-governed Delhi to some extent – the contribution of farm fires to the city’s air quality ranged from 0 to 38 percent on different days last year in October and November. Though the extent to which farm fires have contributed to PM 2.5, the most harmful air pollutant, this time in Delhi is not clear, the national capital’s air quality has already plunged into the ‘very poor’ zone with local emissions among other reasons.
