Watch: ​Addressing an anomaly | On stubble burning, burnt-area estimates

In a statement to Parliament, the Environment Ministry said that Punjab and Haryana had collectively reduced “fire incidences” by 90% in 2025 compared to 2022. This is in reference to the burning of farm stubble, a traditional shortcut to quickly shed fields of paddy remnants and prepare them for a second crop — in this case, wheat — but that has in the last decade and a half been linked to spikes in air pollution in October-November in Delhi and surrounding cities.