Wed, 28 Oct, 2026, 01:11 pm
Reported by The New Indian Express
CHANDIGARH: A new analysis by Delhi-based climate research organisation Climate Trends has found that stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana had little influence on the national capital’s air quality during September and October between 2024 and 2026, amid a political row between the BJP and AAP over Delhi’s toxic air.
The report states that local, non-agricultural sources played a larger role in determining Delhi’s air quality. It highlighted that the improvement in Delhi’s AQI in recent years hides “a worse ordinary day” and stated that while the mean AQI fell from 169.3 to 142.6 between 2025 and 2026 — a 15.8 per cent drop — the median AQI, representing the air quality most people in Delhi typically experienced, deteriorated. The median AQI rose from 135 to 154, an increase of 14.1 per cent over the same period.
Fire events in Punjab and Haryana were essentially unchanged between 2025 and 2026, down just four per cent (201 to 193), yet Delhi’s AQI fell 15.8 per cent over the same period. Between 2024 and 2025, by contrast, fires dropped 88 per cent while Delhi’s AQI fell 3.9 per cent,” the report said.
The mean AQI is the simple average of daily readings, while the median AQI is the middle value when daily readings are arranged from lowest to highest. The median AQI is considered a better measure of a typical day and is barely affected by one or two extreme spikes.
