The Indian government claims that farm fires in Punjab, which contribute significantly to air pollution, have been reduced by 90% during this fall and winter season of harvest and crop-waste disposal – historically a factor in sending heavy clouds of air pollution drifting around northern India.

But those claims have appeared all the more specious as Delhi’s skyline was once again buried in a smoky haze with air pollution levels 35-40 times above WHO safe limits. The crisis came against a backdrop of social media outrage and building public pressure – including protests that spilled over Monday to a football stadium event hosting the legendary Argentinian player Lionel Messi.

In this Earth Chakra podcast, Health Policy Watch senior correspondent Chetan Bhattacharji interviews Dr Hiren Jethva, an scientist specializing in remote sensing of aerosols at Morgan State University and NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre. Jethva exposes how Punjab farmers are, in fact, evading satellite monitoring.

According to Jethva, the true number of stubble burning incidents in Punjab could be 10 to 11 times higher than the official government count of about 5,000 for this season. In the podcast, he teases apart the data to explain the reasons why the numbers are so misleading. ⬇️

Significantly, the Indian government’s space agency, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has, in a recent paper, reached a similar finding to Jethva’s, effectively endorsing what he has been saying for the past two years.

Growing public anger over pollution levels

The debate over the data comes as the effects of the burning fires on pollution levels appear undeniable. 

On Monday, Messi found himself in the middle of an unprecedented protest against Delhi’s air pollution levels while on a four-city tour to India. As the city’s Chief Minister, Rekha Gupta walked towards the footballer in the middle of a stadium full of ticket-paying visitors, the slogan “AQI, AQI,” decrying her handling of the air pollution crisis reverberated throughout the crowd. Videos quickly went viral. 

 The event was held amidst a thick haze which was a sign of extremely hazardous air quality, with fine particulate pollution levels (PM2.5) about 35-40 times the WHO’s safe limits. 

On Tuesday, Delhi’s Environment Minister, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, apologised to the people of Delhi. He also announced fresh curbs on vehicles, including an order that fuel not be sold for those vehicles whose drivers don’t produce a valid pollution under control certificate (PUC). That, despite the fact that the PUC is outdated and does not test for key pollutants like particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). 

Delhi’s air pollution spiked late last week, with the Air Quality Index, which reflects a combined score of the most dangerous pollutants, hitting a season’s high of 461. Along with the drift of smoke from neighboring agricultural states like Punjab and Haryana, which are burning crop waste, lower temperatures, which trap more pollution hae also been blamed. There is also little wind to push pollutants out of the city, and an increase of small household fires for winter warmth. Meanwhile, vehicular emissions are estimated to contribute some 27-51% of ambient air pollution levels in winter. 

Schools in hybrid mode

Along with the ban on fuel sales to polluting vehicles, schools have been shifted to a hybrid mode. However, a government clampdown on coal and wood-fired tandoors also triggered protests and digs at the government. 

In another unprecedented move, the Singapore High Commission (embassy) in Delhi tweeted a note asking its citizens to heed the health, work and travel advisory of Indian pollution control officials. The UK and Canada reportedly put out advisories as well.

Gupta, a member of the governing BJP part of Nahrenda Modi, has been under attack for a series of decisions and comments by her administration, which took over the reins of Delhi government in February for the first time in 27 years, following elections. Those decisions range from allowing firecrackers in the recent Diwali festival, a move that ushered in the worst post-Diwali air pollution in five years, to defending videos which showed water being sprayed on and around the government’s air quality monitors.  She also has been quoted recently saying ‘AQI is like temperature.’

While Sirsa was quick to blame Delhi’s previous AAP and Congress governments of the last two and a half decades for the air pollution crisis, those opposition parties have called for the Chief Minister’s resignation. 

On Tuesday, India’s Environment Minister, Bhupender Yadav, also held a meeting on Delhi’s air pollution crisis. However, the capital’s PM2.5 level has remained over 120 micrograms per cubic metre on average for weeks on end, with several neighbourhoods recording far higher levels.