CAQM’s submissions in Supreme Court ignore increase in paddy burnt area in Punjab, Haryana

According to data of Punjab government and the Centre, the ‘burnt area’ of paddy fields in both States increased in 2023 compared with previous years, but CAQM data shared with the apex court show farm fires decreasing in 2023 by 26.5% and 37.09% over the 2022 figures

The Central government-constituted Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had information that the ‘burnt area’ of paddy fields in Punjab and Haryana increased and many farmers were burning stubble after satellites passed over the area to avoid detection, according to multiple sources and documents accessed by The Hindu.

The CAQM did not respond to calls and messages seeking comment.

According to data of both the Punjab government and the Centre, the ‘burnt area’ of paddy fields in Punjab and Haryana increased in 2023 compared with previous years.

While the CAQM — a statutory body — has informed the Supreme Court time and again that over the past couple of years there has been a “significant reduction” in stubble burning incidents, the increase in burnt area last year suggests that the actual number of stubble burning incidents could be higher than the official count.

“The CAQM was aware of this. Even though the data by different agencies showed that the burnt area has increased, the commission did not release it citing that the formulas used by the agencies were different,” a government source said.

On January 29, 2024, the CAQM wrote to the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), which comes under ISRO, to develop a ‘standard protocol’ for estimating burnt area under paddy, as per official documents.

Satellite timings

The Minutes of the Meeting (MoM) of the first sitting of the committee formed for estimating it on March 7, 2024, read, “Dr. Sultan Singh (Director, Haryana Space Applications Centre) informed that many of the farmers in Haryana receive the information regarding the timing of satellite passes; hence they carry out the burning activity after the pass.”

The minutes also quote Bhavana Sahay of the NRSC stating that “the observation of reduced burning incidents while burnt area is increasing over the years, may be due to the fact that farmers are well aware of satellite pass timings”.

Despite this, the CAQM in seven affidavits or reports submitted to the Supreme Court from August 31 to November 16 this year did not refer to the increase in paddy burnt area or the concerns raised at the March 7 meeting.

The MoM and the data on increase in paddy area burnt have not yet been made available in the public domain by the CAQM.

‘Burnt area’ vs fires

The CAQM data shared with the Supreme Court show farm fires in Punjab and Haryana decreasing in 2023 by 26.5% and 37.09% over the 2022 figures.

Punjab government data, however, show that during the same period, the burnt area increased to 19.1 lakh hectares from 15.4 lakh hectares — an increase of 24%. Similarly, data for Punjab calculated by the Central government’s Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) showed a 15.03% increase in burnt area from 21.03 lakh hectares to 24.2 lakh hectares.

While IARI data for Haryana is not available for 2022, the burnt area increased to 8.3 lakh hectares in 2023 from 3.5 lakh hectares in 2021, an increase of 137%. As per CAQM data for Haryana, farm fires fell by 67% in 2023 compared with 2021.

“The burnt area and fire counts cannot be this different and it shows that farmers are burning stubble when the satellite is not passing over the area. Even this year, those fields from which no fires were counted by the satellite were later found to be burnt,” the source said.

IARI used to release burnt area data in the past but stopped around 2022.

Stubble burning incidents right now are recorded by two NASA satellites which pass over Punjab and Haryana between 12.30 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. They pass over the area again between 12.30 a.m. and 2.30 a.m.

The farm fires are counted by thermal imaging using temperature difference. This gives the farmers a window in the evening to burn stubble on the quiet.

The burnt area is measured using Sentinel-2 satellites of the European Space Agency. This passes over Punjab and Haryana every five days. Thus, the data of burnt area are not calculated on a daily basis like the farm fire count.

Published - November 22, 2024 01:35 am IST