Punjab-Haryana stubble fires go undetected due to satellite timing: Report
A new report says most big stubble fires in Punjab and Haryana now happen after 3 p.m.—way after India's satellites have finished checking for them.
Because of this, a lot of fires aren't getting counted, which messes up pollution forecasts and makes it harder to manage air quality.
Most fires are happening when satellites aren't watching
Back in 2021, only about 3% of Punjab's stubble fires happened after 3pm. Now it's over 90%, with Haryana showing a similar trend since 2019.
But satellites only scan from late morning to early afternoon, so they miss almost all late-day fires—meaning the real number of fires (and pollution) is much higher than what official data shows.
The drop in fire numbers isn't the whole story
Even though burnt-area mapping shows a 37% drop in Punjab and 25% in Haryana, the actual decline might not be as big as it looks because those missed afternoon blazes aren't being counted.
This means Delhi's air could be worse than we think during burning season.
What needs to change?
iFOREST suggests integrating geostationary satellite inputs into national monitoring, plus revising air-quality models to reflect missed afternoon fires.
Basically, if we want cleaner air and smarter policies, we need a clearer picture of what's really happening on the ground.