Whatever the causes of the smog, by one ranking Delhi was not just the most polluted city in the world, but “nearly five times as bad as the second most polluted city, Dhaka,” in Bangladesh next door, as Shashi Tharoor, a leader of the opposition in Parliament and best-selling author, posted on X.

India's capital was left gasping this week as air pollution smog reduced visibility to near zero and raised air quality levels more than 130 times safe limits.

Punjab recorded the highest number of incidents of stubble burning this season. 1,251 incidents of stubble burning were recorded in the fields. According to data from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB),

Punjab Monday reported 1,251 farm fire cases — highest in a single day this season — taking the state’s total count of such cases to 9,655, as per Punjab Remote Sensing Centre data. On the same day in 2022 and 2023,

Fresh cases were reported from 19 of the 23 districts of the state, the data showed. Last year, the state reported 637 farm fire cases on November 18, while the figure was 701 in 2022.