The Supreme Court of India has stepped in to tackle a growing concern - Farmers in Punjab and Haryana timing their stubble burning to evade detection by NASA satellites.
In a landmark ruling on Thursday, the Court has ordered round-the-clock monitoring of farm fires, recognising the tactics being employed to bypass satellite surveillance.
For years, the problem of stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana has plagued the air quality, with devastating consequences for both the environment and public health.
Despite government efforts and Supreme Court interventions, many farmers have resorted to burning crop residue, citing lack of resources, time, and viable alternatives. However, what’s new in this fight is how farmers have begun to manipulate technology to avoid detection.
The farmers, it seems, have found a loophole: timing their stubble burning with the passing of NASA satellites, which fly over the region twice daily.
This crafty manipulation of timing has significantly skewed the data, with the Centre for Air Quality Management (CAQM) reporting a 70% drop in the recorded instances of stubble burning.
As the satellites pass over only once in the morning and once in the afternoon, burning after 4 p.m. became the farmers' strategy of choice. This shift has allowed them to evade detection, under-reporting the problem and weakening government efforts to combat it.
The Supreme Court has taken a firm stance on this issue, ordering 24/7 monitoring of the stubble-burning activity. The Court has directed that the situation be continuously monitored and warned state authorities against advising farmers to take advantage of this time-based loophole.
"State authorities cannot advise farmers to take advantage of the fact that activities are now being discovered during a few hours of the day," the Court noted in its order.
The Punjab government has been instructed to issue immediate warnings to all officers to prevent such activities.
To track the severity of the issue, India has been using NASA’s satellite data, which provides the necessary information on farm fires.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was tasked earlier this year to create a system that could better monitor burnt areas and quantify farm fires.
This is part of India’s ongoing efforts to reduce stubble burning, despite the immense pressure on farmers to clear their fields quickly after harvest.
With the demand for immediate solutions and the lack of resources, burning crop residue has remained the most practical albeit harmful option for many.
Meanwhile, as the legal and environmental battle continues, Punjab and Chandigarh are bracing for more immediate weather challenges.
The Meteorological Department has issued a yellow alert for dense fog, with visibility expected to drop below 50 metres.
This foggy spell is expected to last for the next three days, further complicating the stubble burning issue as pollution and health hazards mount.
Despite the fog, no rain is forecast for this period, which may aggravate the already hazardous air quality in the region.
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