New Delhi, Oct. 23 -- Even as Delhi continues to choke under a "very poor" air quality index for the third straight day, experts said that the city has so far been spared the usual haze of farm smoke that typically engulfs it at this time of year. The contribution of stubble burning in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana has remained negligible this season - below 1% on most days, and peaking at just 2.6% so far, according to data from the Centre's Decision Support System (DSS). The peak share so far, at 2.6%, was recorded on October 17, DSS data shows, meaning Delhi's spike in pollution right now is largely due to both local and cross-boundary emissions - particularly industries and vehicles. Typically, the impact of farm fires begins to rise sharply in the last week of October and peaks in early November. This year, however, forecasts suggest that the seasonal surge will be delayed until at least October 28, as winds continue to blow largely from the east rather than the northwest, which normally carries smoke from Punjab and Haryana into Delhi. Experts said that a combination of factors - particularly the floods in Punjab earlier this year - disrupted the paddy harvest cycle and slowed the onset of stubble burning. "The floods may have impacted the harvesting pattern, which could lead to a delayed spike in farm fire counts. Normally, the peak is seen in the start of November, but so far the impact has been negligible," said Sunil Dahiya, founder and lead analyst at the think-tank Envirocatalysts. DSS data this week showed stubble smoke contributing just 1.62% to Delhi's PM2.5 concentration on Wednesday, 1% on Tuesday, and 0.83% on Monday. The contrast with last year is striking: by October 22, 2024, the share of stubble smoke had already reached 8% and climbed to 27% by the end of the month....