Government’s big claim regarding pollution, Delhi got clean air after 8 years, 90% reduction in incidents of stubble burning.

The Central Government on Monday made a big claim in the Lok Sabha regarding pollution in Delhi-NCR. Union Forest, Environment and Climate Protection Minister Bhupendra Yadav, while replying to the question of former Chief Minister of Punjab and Congress MP from Jalandhar Charanjit Singh Channi, said that this year Delhi has seen the least pollution in the last 8 years. It can be said that Delhi has got clean air after 8 years. He said that meanwhile the incidents of stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana have also reduced by 90%.

While giving a written reply in the Lok Sabha on the pollution situation in NCR, the Union Minister said that in 2016, Delhi used to get clean air only 110 days in a year. Now the number of days has increased to 200. He said air pollution in Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) is the collective result of multiple factors, including high levels of anthropogenic activities in high-density populated areas of NCR.

Many factors causing pollution

The Union Minister further said that there are many factors causing pollution in Delhi NCR. Such as vehicular pollution, industrial pollution, dust generated from construction and demolition projects, road and open area dust, biomass burning, municipal solid waste burning, landfill fires, air pollution from scattered sources, etc. Apart from this, various weather related reasons are also there.

90% reduction through collective effort

The Union Minister said that stubble burning during the winter season in the NCR region and Punjab has also been identified as a phenomenon that increases the air quality index in Delhi and NCR region. The states of Punjab and Haryana have collectively recorded about 90% reduction in fire incidents during the paddy harvesting season in the year 2025 as compared to the same period in the year 2022.

How much air has become clean from 2016 to 2025?

With coordinated efforts, the number of good days (AQI < 200) in Delhi has increased from 110 days in 2016 to 200 days in 2025. There has been an overall improvement in AQI this year. Very poor (AQI: 301-400) and severe (AQI above 401) days have reduced from 71 days in 2024 to 50 days in 2025. This is the lowest average AQI observed in Delhi in the last 8 years, i.e. from 2018 to 2025 (2020 - excluding COVID lockdown).