New Delhi:

Delhi and its adjoining areas are covered in smog and air quality is still in the ‘very poor’ category. The fourth stage of anti-pollution measures will remain in effect for three days as no sign of relief is expected soon.

Several factors contribute to Delhi’s inferior quality, including construction, the city’s vehicular pollution and the stubble burning by farmers in Punjab and Haryana. While the Central Air Quality Management (CAQM), the pollution control body, has appreciated Punjab for significantly bringing down the cases of stubble burning in the state, scientist Hiren Jethva at NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, differs and told NDTV that farmers are timing stubble burning with NASA satellites overpass time over the subcontinent leading to severe undercounting. Now, exclusive satellite images accessed by NDTV appear to confirm the inference.

Satellite Images Of Punjab Farm Fires

NDTV accessed satellite images of a small area west of Amritsar, to understand the extent of farm fires on November 18 at 2:18 pm. It may look like an image of a warzone, but the smoke is not from the impact of bombs but from farmers burning their agriculture stubble. The red circles indicate the location of farm fires in a small area lying west of the Amritsar airport.

The satellite imagery experts consulted by NDTV, counted at least 26 independent farm fires in the north and west of Amritsar on November 18, shortly after NASA’s satellites with fire-detecting sensors had completed their overpass of the subcontinent.

A zoomed-in image of a farm fire west of Amristar airport shows a large amount of smoke emanating from a single farm fire that burns for several hours, contributing significantly to poor air quality and lowering the visibility in the region.

On November 18, flight operations at Amritsar Airport were impacted due to poor visibility as a result of smog and the smoke from farm fires has converted the Indo-Gangetic plain belt which includes Delhi and its adjoining areas into a gas chamber. 

Read more: Exclusive: Wary Of NASA Satellites, How Farmers In Punjab Time Crop-Burning, Scientist Explains

Mr Jethva, earlier told NDTV that, “The overpass time of NASA satellites over the region is around 1:30-2:00 pm but somehow they (farmers) have learnt that they can bypass the satellite overpass time and can burn the crop residue in the late afternoon. This is confirmed by the South Korean geostationary satellite that the majority of the crop burning happens after 2 pm once the NASA satellites overpass the region when there is no surveillance, but the fires cannot be hidden from geostationary satellites which take a picture of the region every five minutes.”

The images accessed by NDTV were captured at 2:18 pm and farm fires were visible in the Maxar imagery and are absent from farm fire data processed by Sumoi-NPP/VIIRS sensors used by NASA.

Another satellite captures an image of an area adjacent to the spot where a single fire emanated a huge amount of smoke. At least eight independent farm fires were spotted by experts who were consulted by NDTV to locate the incidents of stubble burning.

Mr Jethva earlier in an X post, shared satellite images from October 29, taken by the GEO-KOMSAT A2 satellite, showing a timelapse of the crop-burning activities in northwest India. The images show dense cloud cover over the region post-4 pm, when compared to 1:30 pm, suggesting that farmers are burning crops late afternoon to avoid NASA satellite surveillance.

NASA Data

The yellow box next to Amristar is the location of the satellite images accessed by NDTV. The red dots are farm fires which have been detected by sensors from NASA World View, data from which is extensively used in India. The fire sensor data was taken at 2:18 pm on November 18, at the same time when other satellites, except NASA’s, passed over the region

The images appear to confirm that there is a severe undercount of farm fires in Punjab which contribute significantly to the air pollution load this time of the year when farmers burn their agriculture stubble.

Mr Jethva earlier told NDTV, “Yes, farmers can hide the crop burning from the 1:30 pm overpass time but the PM 2.5 data and the pollution load over the Indo-Gangetic plain region, the geostationary satellite data and the burnt…everything is pointing toward fire is still present. Smog towers are a small fix. It won’t work unless we address the issue of crop burning in the region.”

Thermal Inversion – Another Key Factor

Thermal inversion is a big factor behind the sudden spike in dense smog and pollution levels. Mr Jethva explained that “The warmer air sits above the cooler air on the ground and that does not allow the vertical mixing of pollutants and whatever we emit at the surface stays for around 200 metres within the boundary layer. The stronger the thermal inversion, the more pollutants will be trapped near the surface because there is no venting place for the pollutants to go up in the vertical direction.”

“In the satellite images, we can notice that smoke from crop burning is mixed with clouds or is above them and that kind of situation furthers thermal inversion because of the absorption of light-absorbing aerosols and that it further warms the upper layer and increases thermal inversion,” Mr Jethva said.

The particulate matter (PM) acts as a cloud condensation nuclei which favours the formation of fog and when temperatures go down a huge amount of aerosols contribute to fog formation.

Chandigarh:

Punjab on Friday witnessed the current season’s biggest spike in farm fires with 587 total cases being reported across the state.

According to Punjab Remote Sensing Centre data, 3,537 farm fire cases occurred in Punjab from September 15 to November 1.

Among the districts, Sangrur reported 79 cases, Ferozepur saw 70 farm fire cases, Tarn Taran 59, Amritsar 40, Bathinda 34, Kapurthala 43, Mansa 47 and Patiala 40.

Fazilka, Rupnagar, and Pathankot reported each incident of a farm fire.

The previous highest spike of the current season was reported on Thursday with 484 cases, with Sangrur district reporting a maximum of 89 cases followed by Ferozepur with 65 cases and Mansa with 40 cases.

Notably, there has been a steep jump in farm fire incidents during the past few days.

Punjab had recorded 219 fresh farm fire incidents on Tuesday, taking the season’s count on that day to 2,356.

Paddy procurement is underway in Punjab.

Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is often blamed for the rise in air pollution in Delhi after harvesting of the paddy crop in October and November.

As the window for rabi crop wheat is very short after paddy harvest, some farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue for sowing of the next crop.

With over 31 lakh hectares of paddy area, Punjab produces around 180-200 lakh tonne of paddy straw every year.

Punjab recorded a total of 36,663 farm fires in 2023, registering a 26 per cent drop in such incidents.

The state recorded 49,922 fire events in 2022, 71,304 in 2021, 76,590 in 2020, 55,210 in 2019 and 50,590 in 2018 with many districts including Sangrur, Mansa, Bathinda and Amritsar witnessing large number of stubble burning incidents.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Stubble burning in Punjab, shows data, has been lowest in the last three years. Data from NASA’s Worldview satellite, which detects fire events around the world, corroborates the assertion made by the Punjab government that stubble burning, a major cause of air pollution, in the state this year has been a fraction of what it has been over the last two years.

Stubble burning is a significant concern in Delhi and neighbouring states, as winter conditions trap pollutants, leading to hazardous air quality and thick smog.

One will still have to wait for a few weeks to be sure that the air this year remains cleaner across large parts of the Indo-Gangetic plain, the initial indicators are encouraging and are backed by data.  

The Punjab government says, in data shared with NDTV today, that there have been 196 farm fires across the state between September 15 to October 6, 2024. For the same period last year, there were 845 fires. And in 2022, for the same period, the data says there were 630 fires.

Significantly, on October 6, just yesterday, the Punjab government says that there were just three farm fires.

NDTV decided to fact-check the Punjab government data using a series of sensors deployed on NASA Worldview satellite and this is what they show. Here’s a comparison of first six days in October with corresponding data for the same period last year.

Amid growing concerns over stubble burning and pollution ahead of the winter season, AAP leader Malvinder Singh on Monday highlighted the Punjab government’s efforts to tackle the issue, asserting that stubble burning has reduced by 70%.

“The Bhagwant Mann government is working hard to reduce stubble burning. There has been a 70% reduction in stubble burning. The Punjab government is providing alternatives to farmers, as the biggest loss from stubble burning is borne by them. The government is actively working to manage the situation,” said Mr Kang.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has reiterated his government’s commitment to combating pollution by promoting the ‘Crop Residue Management Loan Scheme’, which helps farmers access machinery for disposing of stubble without burning it.

On September 27, the Supreme Court had rapped the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) over its failure to curb air pollution in Delhi due to crop residue burning in the neighbouring states and said it needs to be more active in its approach.

The top court had said efforts are needed to ensure that stubble-burning alternative equipment is used at the grassroots level.

With the onset of stubble burning season, ‘flying squads’ have been deployed in several districts of Haryana and Punjab to monitor such incidents.

Flying Squads will assess the ground-level situation and report to the Commission and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) “on a daily basis”, including the steps taken to prevent further incidents of paddy stubble burning in the allocated district, the Ministry of Environment said.

New Delhi:

The number of stubble-burning incidents in Punjab and Haryana since September 15 has reduced by around 56 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively, compared to the corresponding period last year.

In the period between September 15 and October 29, the cumulative number of farm fires in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and NCR areas of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh has reduced from 13,964 in 2022 to 6,391 in 2023, the Centre’s Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) said.

There were 11,461 stubble-burning cases in the corresponding period in 2021, it said.

In Punjab, there were 5,254 stubble burning incidents during this 45-day period this year, compared to 12,112 in 2022 and 9,001 in 2021. This represents a reduction of 56.6 per cent and 41.6 per cent, respectively.

Haryana reported 1,094 stubble burning cases during this 45-day period this year and it is significantly lower than the 1,813 in 2022 and 2,413 in 2021. This reflects a reduction of 39.7 per cent and 54.7 per cent, respectively.

The Central government has allocated approximately Rs. 3,333 crore under the Crop Residue Management Scheme to the state governments of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.

These funds support the subsidised procurement of machines by individual farmers, custom hiring centres and cooperatives for in-situ management of paddy straw and for baling/raking machines and equipment for ex-situ applications.

The total number of crop residue management (CRM) machines available is 1,17,672 in Punjab, 80,071 in Haryana, and 7,986 in UP-NCR. Additional procurement is underway to acquire 23,000 CRM machines in Punjab, 7,572 in Haryana, and 595 in Uttar Pradesh to augment their availability during the current harvesting season.

While the reduction in paddy stubble burning incidents is evident, the recent days have seen a sudden surge in Punjab. It is expected that harvesting activities will peak in the coming weeks. On October 29 alone, Punjab reported 1,068 stubble burning cases, the CAQM said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Winter is approaching, so is bad air quality in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). Crop-residue or stubble burning in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana is likely to add to the city’s worsening air quality index, or AQI.

We look at the farm fire situation in Punjab, based on data and imagery from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that has been tracking the situation for the past few years.

On October 25, 2019, the dots you see on this map of Punjab are of farm fires. It changes every year.

On October 25, 2020, the dots representing farm fires remain similar.

The same dots are seen every year – 2021, 2022, 2023 – in the sample imagery taken on the same date.

Now, just a couple of hours ago today, the NASA imagery shows a large area with the red dots, showing significant farm fires in Punjab.

To understand the data, we need to look at the trends between October 1 and 25, i.e. today. The data gives some interesting insights into the problem.

Between 2012 and now, except 2016, when farm fires really raged across Punjab, there has been a broad downward trend in crop residue burning. For example, 2020. But if you see 2023, the number indicates stubble burning in Punjab has been at its lowest since 2012.

“I was surprised to see that the fires in Punjab and Haryana have been lowest. We have never seen such low farm fires trend. There could be two reasons – the burning season has been delayed for some reason. It seems rainfall was in excess in Haryana and Punjab this July and August, which destroyed some crops,” Hiren Jethva, Senior Research Scientist at Morgan State University NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, told NDTV today.

“I am a bit afraid the (burning) season has been delayed, and we haven’t seen the big fires, likely to happen in the coming two weeks,” the scientist said.

Delhi’s air quality was recorded in the “poor” category for a third day running on Wednesday and a major improvement is unlikely over the next few days, according to monitoring agencies. The city’s average air quality index (AQI) stood at 238 at 10 am, worsening from 220 at 4 pm on Tuesday.

The average AQI was 196 in neighbouring Ghaziabad, 258 in Faridabad, 176 in Gurugram, 200 in Noida and 248 in Greater Noida.

According to the Centre’s Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, the city’s air quality is likely to oscillate between the “poor” and “very poor” categories over the next four to five days.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe.

Delhi’s air quality had turned “very poor” on Sunday for the first time since May, mainly due to a drop in temperature and wind speed, which allowed pollutants to accumulate.