As per reports, following are the details on poor air quality and smog, and its associated disruptions across Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh as of Wednesday (13 November):

• The air quality index (AQI) in Chandigarh was recorded at 349 (very poor) on Tuesday (12 November). In Punjab, Mandi Gobindgarh recorded the worst air quality, with an AQI of 269, followed by Patiala 245, Ludhiana 233, Jalandhar 212 and Rupnagar 200 (all in the poor category). In Haryana, the AQI was 291 in Kaithal, 272 in Jind, 267 in Panchkula, 240 in Sonipat, 236 in Bahadurgarh, 217 in Kurukshetra, 205 in Gurugram and 202 in Yamunanagar (all in the poor category).
• Punjab witnessed 83 fresh farm fires on Tuesday (12 November), taking the total count of stubble burning incidents in the state since September to 7,112.
• Vice President (VP) Jagdeep Dhankhar had to cancel his attendance for a conference in Ludianana after his plane could not safely land at the Halwara Airport due to poor visibility on Tuesday (13 November). VP Dhankhar was to attend an international conference on at the Punjab Agricultural University, for which his aircraft landed at the Amritsar airport. After staying for 40 minutes at Amritsar, his flight to Ludhiana was cancelled as aviation authorities could not give adequate safety clearance.
• Authorities and experts have further stated that sunlight hours over the past several days have reduced to zero across several parts of Punjab and Haryana. Experts stated that the day after Diwali on 01 November, 9.2 hours of sunshine were recorded, however from 06-12 November, zero hours of sunlight have been recorded. This is referred to as the “grey sky” phenomenon, in which smog and toxic haze blocks out sunlight.
• Haryana recorded no cases of stubble burning on Tuesday (12 November); is has witnessed a total of 1,020 farm fires from 15 September onwards this year.