Image source, PRAKASH SINGH/AFP via Getty Images
The next morning of Diwali, the country's capital Delhi was covered with a blanket of fog and mist. Even after sunrise, India Gate remained out of sight for several hours.
Since then, the trend of poor air quality continues in Delhi. According to Delhi Government data, the Air Quality Index (AQI) has remained at 300 to 400 and above during the last few days.
This AQI figure can cause serious health problems. Due to this severe air pollution, people can suffer from other diseases besides respiratory and lung diseases. This is even more harmful for the health of small children.
Vaibhav Gupta, a civil engineer by profession and running a construction company, had set out for Uttarakhand with his family.
Pointing towards India Gate, he says, "There was a fear that pollution would increase, but I did not think that it would become so much. I am going to Uttarakhand with my father and family, I will return in a few days when the AQI is fine."
Vaibhav Gupta's construction site is closed due to implementation of pollution related rules.
His wife, who works in the administration of a school, says, "Right now the schools are on hybrid classes, if the pollution situation remains the same then online classes can be conducted."
Vaibhav Gupta's father remained sitting in the car wearing a mask. He says, "Pollution is affecting someone's business and someone's health. There will come a time when people will not be able to bear these conditions."
End
A cameraman, who has been taking photographs at India Gate for the last fifteen years, says, "The smog has increased, the eyes are burning. Due to pollution, the number of tourists has reduced, foreigners are not visible at all."
'It's good that the wind has blown, we can breathe a little!'
Image source: Ishant Chauhan/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
This is not the first time that pollution has suddenly increased in the national capital Delhi after Diwali.
In many areas it even crossed dangerous levels. For the last several years, pollution has been increasing in Delhi immediately after Diwali.
According to the data recorded by Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) on the night of 8 November, AQI (Air Quality Index) in many areas crossed 1500.
However, according to Swiss monitoring group IQAir, the average AQI of Delhi at 10 am on Monday was 372.
Environmental experts attribute this huge decline in AQI to the crackers burst on Diwali. However, they caution that firecrackers are not the only cause of pollution.
Bhavreen Kandhari, senior journalist and founder of environmental group Warrior Moms, says, "Firecrackers burst on Diwali suddenly increase the level of pollution. This time the good thing is that if the wind had not blown, the situation could have been even more difficult. Even if Diwali is celebrated in June-July, there will still be pollution. The only difference will be that in those months the wind blows and the pollutants will spread within 24 to 48 hours, but in winter, such conditions are created in Delhi that the pollutants Get stuck in the air."
Bhavreen says, "At this time, local sources of pollution in Delhi are the most important. These need to be worked on throughout the year. You cannot solve this problem by imposing restrictions for two, three or four weeks."
politics on pollution
With the increase in pollution levels in Delhi, people's problems are also increasing.
Some people are complaining of sore throat and some are having burning sensation in their eyes. There is a blanket of smog on the roads and the air is becoming difficult to breathe.
But every year in winter, as Delhi's air becomes bad, another trend starts. Of allegations and counter-allegations between political parties.
This time too there was a war of words regarding pollution between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi and the Aam Aadmi Party running the government in the neighboring state of Punjab.
BJP leaders are citing stubble burning in Punjab as a major reason for Delhi's pollution, while the Aam Aadmi Party says that the Delhi government is targeting the farmers of Punjab to hide its failure.
The question amid this political debate is whether stubble can be held solely responsible for Delhi's pollution? How much impact does stubble burning have on Delhi's air and is it possible to solve this problem with a few weeks of restrictions?
What is the controversy related to Delhi's pollution and stubble?
Special stories selected for you by Nitin Srivastava
Learn more
On Monday, November 9, the next day of Diwali, Delhi Labor Minister and BJP leader Kapil Mishra raised questions about the sudden increase in incidents of stubble burning in Punjab.
He claimed that between November 5 and 7, incidents of stubble burning in Punjab were around 100 to 125 every day, but on November 8, i.e. Diwali, their number increased to around 1,200.
Kapil Mishra said that he had received calls from some farmers of Punjab. These farmers claimed that when they were in their homes to celebrate Diwali, some people were setting fire to their fields.
He said, "Incidents of stubble burning were recorded at about 125 places on November 7. How did this number suddenly reach 1,200 on Diwali? How did this figure increase more than ten times?"
Kapil Mishra demanded Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to investigate these incidents and register an FIR against the people responsible.
Kapil Mishra also demanded to investigate the phone records of Aam Aadmi Party leaders of the concerned areas.
Mishra called it a conspiracy against farmers, Diwali, Delhi and Punjab.
However, his allegation of deliberately setting fire to the fields is still only a claim, which has not been independently verified.
BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal also accused the Aam Aadmi Party by linking stubble burning in Punjab with Delhi's pollution.
He called it a well-planned conspiracy and said that the Punjab government is allowing stubble burning to increase pollution in Delhi.
Aam Aadmi Party has rejected these allegations outright.
Party's Delhi state president Saurabh Bhardwaj said that the Delhi government is targeting farmers to avoid responsibility for pollution caused by firecrackers.
Citing data from the central government's SAFAR website, he claimed that the contribution of stubble to Delhi's pollution was five percent a day before Diwali and it was zero on the day of Diwali. However, this website was not available at the time of writing this article.
Saurabh Bhardwaj said, "The smoke of stubble does not come by aeroplane. It reaches with the speed of the wind. It takes at least two-three days to reach Delhi. Even if stubble was burnt in Punjab on the day of Diwali, the winds were going towards Pakistan that day."
He also alleged that the Delhi government is using farmers as scapegoats to save firecrackers.
Aam Aadmi Party's Punjab media in-charge Baltej Pannu also accused BJP of defaming the farmers of Punjab.
He said that even before the paddy harvesting began, BJP leaders had started blaming Punjab for Delhi's pollution.
Is Delhi polluted by stubble?
Researchers claim that the smoke emanating from stubble burning is among the pollutants that spoil the air of Delhi.
But its contribution is not the same every day. It depends on how much stubble is being burnt, in which direction the wind is blowing and what the weather conditions are.
Researchers from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and other institutes published a study in the Helion Journal in 2023.
In this study, incidents of stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana during the year 2021 and their impact on the air of Delhi were analyzed.
According to the study, in some days during October and November 2021, the contribution of stubble burning in Delhi's PM 2.5 pollution had reached 30 to 35 percent.
Researchers found that the effect of stubble smoke depends on the direction and speed of the wind. Its contribution can also change at different times of the day.
According to this study, stubble may be an important cause of Delhi's pollution, but it cannot be held responsible for every day or every level of pollution.
The experts' report released in February 2026 by the Central Government body Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) also points towards the multidimensional nature of pollution.
On the instructions of the Supreme Court, a panel of 33 experts had analyzed various source-estimation studies conducted between 2015 and 2025.
According to this report, the estimated contribution of different sources to Delhi's PM 2.5 pollution in winter was something like this -
Secondary particulates 27 percent, transportation 23 percent, biomass burning 20 percent, dust 15 percent, industry and thermal power plants 9 percent.
However, biomass burning does not just involve burning stubble in fields. This may also include burning of wood, garbage and other organic materials.
Similarly, secondary particles do not come directly from any one source, but are formed in the air by chemical reactions of gases emitted from transportation, industry, power plants and burning of biomass.
But the big question amidst this debate is whether there have been incidents of stubble burning and whether it is having a direct impact on the pollution of Delhi.
According to the data of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, on November 8, there were 1152 incidents of stubble burning in Punjab and 80 incidents of stubble burning in Haryana.
While posting a video on social media, journalist Mandeep Poonia wrote, "I am traveling in Central Haryana, this is an agricultural area, I do not see any field on fire, it is surprising that farmers are being accused of burning stubble."
According to a report, the incidents of stubble burning in fields in Punjab have reduced by 95 percent since 2020.
Why does pollution get trapped in Delhi's air in winter?
Weather conditions are also a major reason for increase in pollution in Delhi during winter.
Wind speed reduces in cold weather. A situation of temperature inversion may arise in the environment. In such a situation, the pollutants remain deposited near the ground instead of spreading up into the air.
In Delhi, smoke from vehicles, dust from construction activities, industrial emissions and pollution caused by burning of garbage keep accumulating in the air during this period.
Smoke emanating from stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana can also reach Delhi-NCR under favorable wind direction and weather conditions.
Environmental activist and climate journalist Bhavreen Kandhari says that it is not right to link pollution to any one source.
She says, "This is not a debate of less poison or more poison. This is a completely political blame game. Be it stubble, firecrackers or any other emissions, all these pollutants get trapped in the air during adverse weather."
According to him, the weather conditions in winter become such that pollution does not get enough opportunity to spread. But this does not mean that the air of Delhi remains clean in other months.
She says, "We are struggling with pollution throughout the year. The only difference is that in June-July the wind blows and the pollutants spread within 24 to 48 hours. In winter, you are in no position to make any mistakes."
Bhavarin Kandhari says that there is a need to work on all sources of pollution throughout the year and not just impose a ban for a few weeks in winter.
Why is action necessary on both firecrackers and stubble?
Burning of firecrackers on a large scale was also one of the reasons for increase in pollution in Delhi after Diwali.
The Supreme Court had given permission to burn certified low-pollution firecrackers for some stipulated time during Diwali. Despite this, there were reports of bursting of firecrackers till late night in many areas of Delhi.
Bhavarin Kandhari says that the pollutants released from firecrackers cannot be minimized.
According to him, "Green firecrackers also cannot be called completely green. They reduce emissions compared to traditional firecrackers, but they also emit toxic pollutants."
She raises the question that when the government can affect the livelihood of workers by banning construction work, then why action is not taken throughout the year on other sources of pollution?
According to Bhavreen Kandhari, instead of stopping the sources of pollution, governments pay more attention to measures like smog towers, smog guns, sprinklers and cloud seeding.
She says, "You first allow pollution to occur and then try to clean it up. But the most important thing is to work on the sources of pollution. This is work that is not visible, so governments are not that interested in it."
Published by Collective Newsroom for the BBC.
Download the new BBC World Service app
Choose BBC News Hindi and get news alerts, live TV, podcasts... all in one place
Please note: The new app is not available in the UK and US.
short video
end of short video
