Due to Dussehra, stable burning…
On Tuesday, the nation celebrated the Dussehra fest by burning the effigies of Ravana. On the other side, farmers in Punjab paced up the crop residue burning as 360 farm fires. This is the maximum in a day reported, taking the overall count to 2,306.
Farmers also set stubble on fire to show their anger against the government agencies.
While farmers are being penalised for setting paddy residue on fire, no action is taken against those burning the number of Ravana effigies on Dussehra and crackers during Diwali, they said.
The smoke from the Dussehra celebrations, unfavourable meteorological conditions, and a cocktail of emissions from stubble burning and firecrackers.
In addition, the local sources of pollution contributed to Delhi's air quality remaining in the "poor category" for the third straight day today. The air quality is unlikely to see any major improvement over the next few days, monitoring agencies said.
On Tuesday, the average air quality index (AQI) stood at 238 at 10 am, worst from 220 at 4 pm.
The average AQI was 196 in neighbouring Ghaziabad, 258 in Faridabad, 176 in Gurugram, 200 in Noida, and 248 in Greater Noida.
Delhi's AQI is likely to oscillate between the poor and very poor categories over the next four to five days, the Centre's Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi said.
In the month of September, Delhi announced a comprehensive ban on the manufacture, storage, sale, and use of firecrackers within the capital city.
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