India, Nov. 4 -- Baffling experts, the air quality index (AQI) of Haryana cities hover in the "poor" and "very poor" category despite a significantdecline of 83% in stubble burning cases between September 15 to November 3.

On Monday Kaithal district in North Haryana was second in the list of AQI at 393.Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu had the worst air under "severe" category at 486.According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), of the 13 places in the country with "very poor" AQI, five belong to Haryana.They are - Jind (354), Manesar (340), Bhallabgarh (320) and Fatehabad (313).

As per data from the agriculturedepartment only 145 farm fire cases were reported in the state ascompared to 857 incidents during the same period l...