> Delhi is also downwind of many agricultural states such as Punjab (Haryana is a red herring [https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FgkMn_nUoAAZ5dd?format=jpg https://pb

> Delhi is also downwind of many agricultural states such as Punjab (Haryana is a red herring [https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FgkMn_nUoAAZ5dd?format=jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FgkMn_nUoAAZ5dd?format=jpg]) This is a unique year, because for the first time Punjab and Delhi are run by the same Govt (Kejriwal). The Delhi Govt. can't start its annual complaint about burning biomass in Punjab, because for once, they have the power to actually curb it. > Kejriwal called for an end to “blame games and finger-pointing” over the smog and farm fire issue. “Farmers need solutions,” he said. “The day they get a solution, they will stop burning the stubble.” The hypocrisy of politicians is deafening, all while millions of human-years are lost every year to this primitive practice. The hypocrisy goes even deeper, as the farm bill would have directly addressed this problem. One of the 3 main demands of the mostly Punjab driven protests to the farm bill were to decriminalize crop burning. Additionally privatizing farm trade was expected to lead to more lucrative non-rice crops, but that too was revoked after the protests. The farm bill was arguably the most progressive and well-thought out bills proposed by the Indian Govt., and the reaction by the English speaking commentariat can only be described as deliberate sabotage. This is partly their burden to bear. I might seem partisan in my comment, but after a year of being talked down to and called names by every respected western outlet, twitter and India's trigger happy-to-please-the-west commentariat, I do feel a degree of schadenfreude. I just wish them 'getting a taste of their own medicine' was purely metaphorical and not this literal. > The air quality could further dip in the coming days as a large section of sown area in Punjab will be harvested this week, as only 45-50% area has been harvested till October 24. There is a 34% rise in farm fires in Punjab this year compared to last year. Haryana, however, has been able to bring down the farm fire events this year with 1,701 such incidents reported from the state between September 15 and October 28 compared to 2,252 incidences for the same period last year, which translated to a reduction of about 25%. I was going to call out the BJP (which runs Haryana in a coalition) for being just as useless, but they have been the lesser of 2 evils, as Haryana contributes a small and ever decreasing percentage of crop burning instances in the region. Still think they were spineless in revoking the Farm Bill, despite having an overwhelming majority mandate and many years before the national elections. __________ I'm glad neither me nor any of my loved ones live in Delhi anymore. I spent a winter there, and the smog would make me break out int spontaneous hives across my entire body. It is not fit for human habitation.