India's Stubble-Burning Monitoring Gaps Leave Delhi's Air in Chokehold

A report by iFOREST unveils significant gaps in India's stubble-burning monitoring, attributing them to shifting farm fire timings, which official systems fail to capture. Despite reductions in burnt areas, the report highlights an underestimation of pollution contributions to Delhi's air. It urges urgent reforms and enhanced monitoring to bridge the data gap.

A recent report by the International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology (iFOREST) reveals troubling gaps in India's stubble-burning monitoring systems. Farmers have adjusted their timings to late afternoons, escaping detection by systems that monitor from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm, leading to skewed data on pollution sources affecting Delhi.

The report, published on Monday, emphasizes that burnt areas in Punjab and Haryana have seen a 25-35 percent decrease, suggesting improvement. However, the current system fails to accurately reflect stubble burning's full contribution to air pollution, underscoring the necessity for systemic reform and comprehensive data collection.

iFOREST recommends urgent overhauls in monitoring protocols, urging the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modeling from Space (CREAMS) to integrate burnt-area data into their reporting. The organization warns against complacency, advocating for expanded focus beyond Punjab and Haryana to include emerging hotspots such as Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

(With inputs from agencies.)