Air Quality Panel Asks NCR States To Adopt ISRO's Farm Fire Estimation Protocol

Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and UP attract attention during the paddy harvesting season as farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off crop residue left behind after harvesting, which leads to an alarming spike in pollution in Delhi-NCR.

Ahead of the harvesting season, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has asked Delhi and neighbouring states to ensure the adoption and application of a standard protocol developed by ISRO for estimation of crop residue burning fire events using satellite data. The commission, mandated to devise and execute plans to prevent and control air pollution in the national capital region and adjoining areas, has also asked Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan to develop a time-bound comprehensive action plan, in consultation with stakeholder agencies responsible for monitoring and reporting of agriculture residue burning events, based on the protocol. The commission had stressed the need to develop and implement a standardised methodology across NCR and adjoining areas for the monitoring of fire events at meetings with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at a meeting held in December last year. The protocol has been prepared in consultation with stakeholder agencies like State Remote Sensing Centers and Indian Agricultural Research Institute, it said.