Overview
- In a December 1 letter, the Commission for Air Quality Management directed Punjab and Haryana to extend ground-level monitoring and enforcement to the rabi harvest and to file a crop-residue action plan before summer 2026.
- IARI’s CREAMS satellite data logged extensive April–May 2025 fires, including 10,207 in Punjab, 1,832 in Haryana, 14,398 in Uttar Pradesh, 34,429 in Madhya Pradesh, and 49 in Delhi.
- CAQM flagged implementation gaps from the 2025 kharif season, noting both detected and undetected fires, and on November 21 asked states to report locations missed by satellites and actions taken.
- An ISRO Space Applications Centre study found peak stubble-burning shifted to about 17:00 IST by 2024 with a narrower activity window, indicating polar-orbiting satellites likely undercount October–November fires.
- Researchers urged combining geostationary and polar satellite data for fire tracking, while NASA scientist Hiren Jethva said large reduction claims are misleading because late-afternoon burns are often missed.