Farmers burn stubble at night to evade detection by satellite

Sunit Dhawan

Rohtak, November 7

Instances of burning of crop residue have witnessed a surge with the harvesting of paddy in full swing in the region. However, it is curious to note that the surge does not reflect in the official data of farm fires recorded by satellite(s) and sent to the district offices of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare by the Haryana Space Applications Centre (HARSAC).

Enquiries revealed that all incidents of farm fires do not get detected as the satellite imaging is not conducted round the clock. The fires during night may also not get detected by satellite(s) due to technical reasons.

“The satellite(s) detect farm fires with the help of thermo sensors, which sense the variation in temperature. Hence, these may fail to detect farm fires at night due to the drop in temperatures during night hours,” say sources.

In many cases, the instances of suspected farm fires reported by HARSAC are actually found to be cases of industrial fires, garbage burning and even cremation ceremonies upon physical verification, sources say.

As per official data, HARSAC has reported 26 farm fires in Rohtak district during the current season so far, of which only nine have been found correct upon verification. Four farm fires have been reported by the department staff to date.

A fine of Rs 32,500 has been imposed on those responsible for the 13 incidents.

HARSAC director Dr Sultan Singh said the satellite imaging was carried out at fixed intervals after a gap of 12 hours and the monitoring was done by multiple satellites. He, however, denied the possibility of non-detection of farm fires during night. “The satellites detect farm fires on the basis of variation in temperature, which can take place at any time,” he said.

Fires can be detected at night

The satellites detect farm fires on the basis of variation in temperature, which can take place at any time during the day or night. — Dr Sultan Singh, HARSAC director