Air quality in Punjab and Haryana dropped into the ‘poor’ category on Saturday, with Chandigarh registering the worst conditions in the region at an AQI of 322, categorizing it as ‘very poor.’ The Central Pollution Control Board’s Sameer App reported similarly high AQIs in Bahadurgarh, Haryana, which stood at 314 at 9 a.m., placing it also in the ‘very poor’ range.
Other cities in Haryana reported AQIs that were close to or within the ‘poor’ category, including Sonipat at 290, Hisar at 285, and Jind at 275. Gurugram, Faridabad, and Rohtak recorded AQIs of 259, 220, and 238, respectively, while Karnal reported a ‘moderate’ level at 144. In Punjab, AQIs in cities like Mandi Gobindgarh (264), Amritsar (258), and Jalandhar (248) hovered in the ‘poor’ category, while Patiala maintained a lower AQI of 133.
The seasonal spike in pollution levels across Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi is largely attributed to the burning of crop residue from paddy fields. On Friday, Punjab reported 730 new incidents of stubble burning, bringing the season’s total to over 6,000. Due to the limited window for planting the Rabi wheat crop after the paddy harvest, many farmers turn to field burning as a quick way to clear land for sowing, contributing significantly to the deteriorating air quality.
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