Winter is fast approaching and the stubble-burning season is well underway. By Monday, October 17, the AQI reading in several parts of the capital has already reached 'poor' or even 'severe' levels, with the full expectation that the situation will only worsen as Diwali approaches. And yet, as the National Capital prepares itself to face another grey, dystopian winter, the primary concern for many problem solvers and policymakers seems to be — who is to blame? Of course, to address a problem, it is important to understand it, it is important not only to grasp the source of the pollution but also the factors that allow it to spread. After all, you cannot solve a problem you cannot measure. This, for the most part, is not what is happening in regard to Delhi's smog problem. A case in point is that no study can still provide a definitive picture of how big a role stubble burning plays in the national capital's pollution woes. Last year, in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Centre claimed that its studies showed that stubble burning was responsible for only four and seven per cent of PM 2.5 and PM 10 pollution during winter and summer in the capital respectively. Several other studies have pegged this pollution contribution to as high as 50 per cent during the winter months. And what about all the other sources? Experts say pollution in the national capital is a mixed cocktail, stemming from numerous sources such as construction, vehicular pollution and specific meteorological conditions that keep these pollutants trapped over the capital. Any action plan to combat Delhi's smog problem will need to be multi-pronged and nuanced, a complicated solution to a complicated problem. So why do leaders insist on simplifying such problems to black-and-white political blame games? It is an age-old story where state and Central authorities point fingers at each other and everyone, from farmers to firecracker manufacturers, gets dragged into the tussle. The reason for such gross oversimplification and obscurification of the problem is not difficult to understand. Policy issues like climate change and pollution are huge issues, issues so big that they are hard to grasp in their entirety, let alone solve. In such cases, it is always easier and more politically expedient to give the illusion of progress by way of political theatre. Sometimes the need to score political points simply outweighs the real problems society faces. And so, Delhi's smog problem remains a never quest, an annual occurrence that is as tragic as it is predictable. But this cynical outlook should not and does not distract from the many attempts being made to actually address the smog problem. Take, for instance, the Graded Response Action Plan or GRAP that has been implemented this year to tackle rising pollution in NCR. GRAP is a series of emergency measures designed to kick in when the AQI in an area reaches a certain threshold in order to stop further deterioration of air quality. Under the GRAP measures, the authorities may institute a ban on construction activities, the movement of certain vehicles and even emergency measures such as the closure of schools until such time that the AQI is brought under manageable levels. At the same time, both Central and state authorities are also moving to address the issue of stubble burning, with the Central Pollution Control Board announcing a one-time fund of Rs 50 crore to set up units that will convert paddy stubble to biomass pellets that can then be used as a cleaner fuel in thermal power plants. Then there is the Delhi government's smog tower project which kicked off last year. This year, the government has claimed that the towers reduce pollution by an average of 70-80 per cent within 50 metres of the tower. Out to 300 metres, the efficiency of the towers is claimed to drop by around 15-20 per cent. So far, the project is very much in its experimental phase, with the government working to make the whole system more cost-efficient so that it may be used more widely in the future. All said and done, such solutions offer a meaningful but limited way to combat the national capital's pollution woes. The problem, as stated above, is that a complete solution will require much more. To provide some context regarding the scale of this problem, a likely long-term solution will not only involve the use of cleaner fuel sources and better garbage management practices but also a fundamental rethinking of how we plan and build urban spaces and industrial areas.