00:00All right, let's take this forward with our reporters now.
00:02Anmol Bali from the National Capital and Kamaljeet Sindhu from Chandigarh in Punjab joins us now.
00:08You know, Anmol and Kamal, not very long ago, the tables were actually switched.
00:15Amati Party was in power in Delhi, BJP and with its alliance partners was in power in Punjab.
00:21The story was exactly the same.
00:24And that is what really hurts us as citizens.
00:28That regardless of who's in power, this blame game is simply not stopping.
00:34Before I get down to Anmol, Kamal, you know, you've covered that entire terrain for so long.
00:40Has something actually changed in the past couple of years?
00:43On paper, what we can see for sure is that the number of farm fires have gone down.
00:51Is that, are the claims that Environment Minister Majinder Singh Sirsa are making,
00:55that this is a deliberate sabotage to kind of destroy Delhi's air?
01:00Do they hold any merit?
01:05Well, in terms of taking accountability and onus, the arm of the party is actually saying that enough is being
01:13done.
01:13So they've spent about 800 crores giving out thousands of machineries to farmers.
01:19But again, there are small and marginal farmers who are still burning stubble.
01:24And that's why the figures are a little over 1,600.
01:27Now, just about compared to last year, satellite images show that till about 2nd November,
01:322,600 instances of stubble burning happened in Punjab.
01:36This year, it's almost 1,000 less.
01:39But what it talks about is a larger picture.
01:41Somewhere in 2019-20, the figures were as drastic as 83,000.
01:47So from that coming down, it seems a drastic decline as far as a number of cases of stubble burning
01:54are concerned.
01:55Now, there are all other aspects of whether stubble burning is also coming in from neighboring states like Haryana and
02:02Uttar Pradesh.
02:03So on its part, they're saying perhaps there are more reasons for pollution in Delhi rather than just blaming Punjab
02:09itself.
02:10But again, what we also know is the Pakistan angle.
02:15At least 13,000 stubble burning cases have happened in the past 29 days or so in Pakistan.
02:22Now, can you actually blame because there are no water fences you really can't control.
02:25But also talking about how Punjab is now the central focal point when it comes to blame game.
02:33Center saying we've done enough to help both Haryana and Punjab deal with stubble burning.
02:39Punjab saying they're doing much more and the situation has not changed.
02:42I've stayed in Delhi.
02:43It chokes every single time during Diwali season happening all over again.
02:48A sense of deja vu and frustration for people who's residing in Delhi NCR.
02:53But clearly, the farmers also feel that there is anguish that they are being blamed every single time.
03:00But there needs to be more factors, not just stubble burning alone.
03:04That's absolutely true, actually.
03:06And, Mohr Bali, let me come to you with that.
03:08Delhi's air is bad throughout the year.
03:11That is a fact.
03:12Our baseline pollution is so high that every time there is a little bit of a, you know, top up,
03:18if one can call it that.
03:19A top up in terms of stubble burning, a top up in terms of, you know, any other factor, even
03:25winter.
03:26And we choke.
03:29What has Delhi really done to bring down this baseline pollution?
03:33You and I have been discussing over the past several days on the impact of the winter action plan.
03:37Now, this time, it was a good measure by the BJP government to actually come out and say that, okay,
03:43we will not react.
03:44We will pre-empt that pollution levels are worse at this time.
03:47So, we'll enforce a pollution action plan.
03:50Has that found any feat on ground?
03:53Or is it, as always in the case of pollution, a good case of bad implementation?
04:02Sonal, as you know, as November hits on our calendar, people in the national capital are troubled with the worsening
04:09AQI.
04:09And yesterday, we have seen that as AQI has breached the 300 mark, the severe and very severe category mark,
04:14we have seen that Grab 2 was implemented by the CAQM.
04:18And before two days, also, we have seen that winter action plan was implemented by the Delhi government.
04:21And I was going through the numbers, I was looking at the November 2, 2025 numbers of the AQI.
04:29It was around 360, but this year, it is around 324.
04:33Very little, despite for the people living in the national capital, but the still air is above 300 mark into
04:39the very severe category.
04:40And now, we are also seeing blame game and politics escalating on this issue.
04:44Today, Manjinder Sirsa, while addressing a press conference and even talking with India today,
04:48that the Punjab government is deliberately asking farmers to burn stubble in their state, to trouble people living in the
04:56national capital.
04:57But big question is here that government has taken various measures, like asking people to not bring their BS6 cars
05:05in the national capital,
05:06asking people to shift to work from home for both government and private offices.
05:10But still, we are seeing that AQI is above 300, a very little respite from 360 to 320.
05:16But still, I am here in the national capital's heart in Connaught Place.
05:19And I'll ask my camera person to show you behind me that still you can see a thick layer of
05:25smoke,
05:25a thick layer of pollution behind me, which clearly shows that how these government measures are working on the ground.
05:31And clearly, people are questioning the government, all the other state governments,
05:36and even the neighbouring government, that when they will get respite from this worsening AQI situation in the national capital.
05:41Sonal.
05:42All right. Thanks, Anwar Bali, for joining us there.
05:45And please get an N95 mask, both of you.
05:48It's trouble, trouble times.
05:50And really hope that we are doing our bit to spread that awareness as well to all our viewers.
05:55Hard going out to all the kids who the time of festivities have to be put back indoors,
06:00have instead of going out and celebrating and, you know, feeling festive,
06:03we are feeling this drill, heavy, thick smog take over our lives and strip away years of our life as
06:10well.
