{
  "id": 19435395,
  "title": "As Delhi, Lahore blame Punjab for poor air, experts say why it’s not possible",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/11/as-delhi-lahore-blame-punjab-for-poor-air-experts-say-why-its-not",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-11T03:09:28.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Indian Express",
    "slug": "the-indian-express",
    "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/delhi-lahore-punjab-poor-air-quality-10958342/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "As Delhi, Lahore blame Punjab for poor air quality, experts shed light on why Punjab cannot be solely held responsible. Sandwiched between Delhi on its south-east and Pakistan's Lahore on its west, Punjab is caught in a political crossfire and blamed for the poor air quality in these two global pollution capitals. The BJP-led Delhi government blames the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab for failing to control stubble burning by farmers, while the West Punjab provincial government's environment minister, Marriyam Aurangzeb, attributes Lahore's severe AQI to \"smoke from large-scale fireworks\" traveling due to wind direction from Punjab.\n\nHowever, contrary to claims that Punjab's actions are the sole cause, Delhi and Lahore recorded higher average pollution levels after Diwali than Punjab itself. On November 9, a day after Diwali, Punjab's average AQI across six major cities was recorded at 287 (poor), while Lahore saw an AQI of 489 (severe/hazardous), and Delhi reached an average of 370 (very poor), with 8 stations breaching the 400 mark.\n\nExperts clarify that while pollutants can be carried in various directions depending on wind speed and direction, Punjab alone cannot be held accountable for Delhi's persistent pollution. The problem escalates around Diwali due to firecrackers and stubble burning, but this year, Punjab's stubble burning had little impact on Delhi's AQI, which reached 376 on Diwali day—the worst in the past five years. Prof (Dr) Gufran Beig, founder of SAFAR, suggests that the wind direction towards Delhi was easterly and south-easterly, unusual for Punjab's location, implying negligible contribution from Punjab to Delhi's air quality. Manoj Kumar, analyst from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, points out that stubble burning ends in November, with Delhi's pollution primarily originating from other sources like industries, vehicles, and residential combustion.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}