00:00All right, so moving on now, and because we know that in the past few days, the air quality index
00:05already had reached a certain alarming level.
00:08And because of, of course, the fireworks that were used, it added on to that, apart from the stubble burning
00:13incidents already being recorded.
00:14So this morning, ladies and gentlemen, Delhi NCR did wake up to a certain toxic air quality.
00:21Now, if I go by the numbers, and we'll bring out the data as well to you, and visuals, of
00:25course, on your screen as our ground checks were being done.
00:28Delhi's air quality index, according to AQI.in, stood at 663 at 8 a.m., but after touching a peak
00:39of 1,331 at 1.30 a.m. on Diwali night.
00:45Delhi's 15 monitoring stations recorded air quality index above 400.
00:49Delhi's overall AQI stood at 366 at 6 a.m., which is a very poor category, and I'm quoting from
00:58Delhi's 15 monitoring stations.
01:00Punjab, sadly, recorded sharpest single-day spike in stubble burning incidents on Diwali night.
01:071,152 farm fires were reported on 8 November, and that has pushed the cumulative number of total now to
01:144,449.
01:16Taran Taran continued to emerge as the worst affected, followed by Ferozpur.
01:20As the capital was also bottling toxic air, political blame game continued.
01:25Opposition targeting BJP government, saying that the BJP, both at centre now in Delhi, has not been able to bring
01:32pollution under control, and they're not being held accountable.
01:34The BJP, meanwhile, is blaming stubble burning in Punjab.
01:37Delhi government citing satellite-detected farm fires and demanding accountability from Bhagwan Taman, Punjab government.
01:48It's Diwali night, and it's way past 11 p.m., way past the time till which crackers were allowed.
01:58But you can hear the noise around me, and crackers are still going up.
02:03Norms are being flouted left, right, and centre, and it's unfortunate.
02:08But, you know, just look at what this AQI monitoring station is clocking right now.
02:14This is Dwarka sector 8, PM 2.5 level above 1,500, the PM 10 level above 2,000.
02:23That is something which should scare all of us.
02:27Yes, Delhi was already polluted.
02:30Yes, there are multiple other contributing factors.
02:33But when you know that your city is polluted, you do not do worse.
02:38Rising AQI levels in Delhi NCR, and is Punjab being blamed more so, both politically as well as several people
02:46have pointed out.
02:47But it's also on Diwali day where I record 4459 instances of stubble burning as cumulative figures turn out.
02:55And 1152 is the number of one day stubble burning, which is just about in the last 24 hours.
03:04These many cases have come in.
03:06So, this is where what we can show you instances of stubble burning.
03:10Now, as far as Punjab government is concerned, and even the Punjab police, DGP, is concerned,
03:15they're saying the Parali Protection Force has been put in, but it's the small marginal farmers.
03:20Now, subsidy has been given, machinery has been put in place.
03:23They've been asked that the stubble burning instances should stop.
03:28So, education being imparted.
03:30But many also pointing out that stubble burning is not the sole cause of pollution.
03:36It may be some bit.
03:38And even that, by many would say, is a long shot from Punjab,
03:44because they're saying there are other states like Haryana, Uttar Pradesh,
03:48which surround Delhi and are closer in proximity, blaming these other states for stubble burning,
03:55saying Punjab is being unnecessarily being dragged.
03:59But when it comes to a number of cases, there seems to be an 80% drop as far as
04:05these cases are concerned.
04:07And remember, towards the FAG end, almost 90% of harvest is complete.
04:12So, that means that what we're going to see in the next few days is a huge spike in stubble
04:17burning,
04:17because now is the next crop which will be sown.
04:21And this is where the farmers are playing a very important part in Punjab.
04:26But many would say it's not right to blame just Punjab farmers for this.
04:30With Cameraperson Amand Gupta, this is Kamaljeet Sandhu in Mohali for India Today.
04:35Jispaqar Se, Parali, Jalai Jari Pangeab, there are 4,000 cases now that are in the past.
04:43And Jispaqar Se, that is the government share them with the Kishisan.
04:46It looks like that Haroon Kijriwal Ji is their own hand.
04:50foreign
05:30foreign
