‘900 farm fires in Punjab in a week’: Delhi minister slams AAP govt for bad air

Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa Tuesday accused the Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government of deliberately facilitating stubble burning, contributing to pollution in Delhi-NCR. He also alleged that Punjab Police personnel were themselves present at several locations and helping set crop residue on fire.

On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) invoked Stage II of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) after the air quality in the Capital deteriorated sharply to enter the ‘Very Poor’ category. Addressing a press conference, Sirsa cited 271 FIRs registered in the state while alleging that more than 1,000 stubble-burning incidents had come to the authorities’ notice.

— Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) November 3, 2026 Citing official data, he claimed that 103 farm fires were reported in Punjab on October 26, 33 on October 27, 98 on October 28, 194 on October 29, 292 on October 30 and 31 combined, and 175 on November 1.

“During the same period, Haryana reported only 18 stubble-burning incidents and Uttar Pradesh 59 while Punjab recorded more than 900 incidents," he said. Delhi, he added, reported only one such incident. He alleged that farmers were not responsible for several of the fires.

“Farmers did not set the fields on fire. Punjab Police personnel did,” Sirsa said while playing videos purportedly showing burning cases. Targeting the AAP government, Sirsa also questioned the appointment of Reena Gupta, whom he described as a close relative of AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, as chairperson of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB).

He alleged that Gupta, who was earlier an AAP spokesperson in Delhi, had been brought to Punjab and that attempts were now being made to manipulate pollution data. “In the history of Punjab, this has happened for the first time that a non-technical person has been appointed chairperson of the PPCB.

She will fudge the data. The Punjab government has spent Rs 20-25 crore on advertisements to claim that no stubble burning is taking place in the state. On the other hand, it is registering FIRs against farmers,” he alleged, adding that the Centre had provided Rs 5,000 crore to address the problem.

Contrasting Delhi’s air-quality figures with those of Punjab, the minister claimed that the Capital had recorded 220 days of clean air this year and that its average AQI in 2026 — 180 — was the lowest in the current decade.

Questioning the AAP, Sirsa asked, “How can 220 clean-air days in Delhi suit the Aam Aadmi Party? I appeal to (Arvind) Kejriwal not to make life difficult for Delhi residents. The previous AAP government had already lost 10 years.”