Stubble burning begins, Delhi stares at pall of smoke, farmers in a fix

Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ask for compensation for farmers attempting to switch over from stubble burning

On Saturday, Delhi’s air quality slipped into the ‘very poor’ bracket, according to the Ministry of Earth Science’s System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research. The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 336, and the forecast for Sunday suggested that things could get worse with the AQI expected to touch 349.

To understand just how alarming this is, consider that an AQI of 101-200 is categorised as moderate, while an AQI between 201-300 is ‘poor’.

Delhi has already breached the ‘poor’ range and entered the ‘very poor’ category (301-400), and is moving steadily towards the