A video showing large swathes of grasslands on fire has gone viral on social media with users claiming that it shows stubble burning in Punjab resulting in massive air pollution.
On Diwali, Delhi earned the dubious distinction of being world’s most polluted city with all pollution parameters surpassing acceptable standards by miles. While many complained that breathing in Delhi itself was proving to be a health hazard, a debate ensued over what primarily caused the extreme levels of air pollution — Diwali crackers or seasonal stubble burning by farmers in north and north west India.
The video in question is being shred in this context.
The Jaipur Dialogues (@JaipurDialogues) shared the video, claiming that the burning of stubbles in nearby Punjab is what is causing the air pollution in Delhi while liberals were blaming Diwali. (Archive)
This is the level of Stubble Burning going on in Punjab.
But Liberals will blame Diwali and Firecrackers for Air Pollution.pic.twitter.com/XEwB8KSTaN
— The Jaipur Dialogues (@JaipurDialogues) October 21, 2025
Note that this user shares misinformation and communal propaganda on a regular basis.
The video was also shared from the X handle of the magazine Panchajanya (@epanchjanya). The caption, which is in Hindi, claims that massive stubble burning in Punjab was directly affecting Delhi, and Delhi’s air quality was continuously deteriorating. “The Aam Aadmi Party government is in power in Punjab, and the Punjab government appears to be failing in controlling the incidents of stubble burning.” (Archive)
पंजाब में बड़ी संख्या में पराली जलाई जा रही है।
इसका सीधा असर दिल्ली पर पड़ रहा है और लगातार दिल्ली की वायु गुणवत्ता खराब हो रही है।
पंजाब में आम आदमी पार्टी की सरकार है, पंजाब सरकार पराली जलाए जाने की घटना पर नियंत्रण करने में विफल दिख रही है। pic.twitter.com/VpQygyVOpb
— Panchjanya (@epanchjanya) October 22, 2025
X user Rishi Bagree (@rishibagree) also posted the video claiming politicians and activists were not talking about this to maintain “their pro-farmer image.” (Archive)
The real source of air pollution, which no one wants to talk about.
No politician, environmentalist, activist, poet, or artist is speaking out because it would jeopardise their pro-farmer image.pic.twitter.com/kzHUKIfQhA
— Rishi Bagree (@rishibagree) October 21, 2025
The video was also circulated by several other users on X, like (@MrTiwaria), (@Cyber_Huntss), (@SanjeevaTe49601), and others. (Archives: 1, 2, 3)
Screenshots below:
Fact Check
To verify the authenticity of the claims, we broke down the viral video into keyframes. A reverse image search on one such keyframe led us to this post, uploaded by ANI, on November 1, 2024.
#WATCH | Punjab: An incident of stubble burning seen in a field in Dagru village of Moga district. pic.twitter.com/6pw4V7wMlj
— ANI (@ANI) November 1, 2024
According to the caption, the video documents a case of stubble burning in a field in Dagru village, of Moga district, in Punjab. However, it is close to a year old.
We found an YouTube video, uploaded by a news platform named ‘News Nine‘, on November 1, 2024, which features the same footage as the one that is viral.
To sum up, a video of stubble burning in Punjab from last year is being shared to support the claim that the pollution in Delhi on Diwali was caused by that and not by rampant use of fire crackers.
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