Farmers shift stubble burning to evenings to dodge satellites, says ISRO study
A new ISRO study found that farmers in Punjab and Haryana are now burning crop stubble later in the day—after 4:30 pm—instead of the usual early afternoon.
This timing change likely helps them avoid being spotted by NASA's monitoring satellites, which mostly pass overhead earlier.
As a result, official reports may be missing a lot of these fires, making it look like there's been a bigger drop than there actually is.
Why does this matter?
Missing these late-evening fires means air pollution data could be way off, leading to policies that don't really solve the problem.
If we want cleaner air and better climate action in north India, tracking all farm fires accurately—no matter when they happen—is key.
The study highlights how important it is for tech and policy to keep up with what's happening on the ground.