Scientist Disputes Indian Government Claim that Polluting Farm Fires Have Reduced by 90%
Features 15/12/2025 •
The Indian government monitors the burning of crop stubble by farmers in Punjab using satellites that capture a snapshot of the farms at 1:30pm daily, but farmers are evading detection by burning at different times, as these satellite images show (above).

The Indian government claims that farm fires in Punjab, which contribute significantly to air pollution, have been reduced by 90%.

But Dr Hiren Jethva, an aerosol remote sensing scientist at Morgan State University and NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, exposes how Punjab farmers are evading satellite monitoring.

Significantly, the Indian government’s space agency, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has, in a recent paper, reached a similar finding to Jethva, effectively endorsing what he has been saying for a couple of years.

According to Jethva, the true number of stubble burning incidents in Punjab could be 10 to 11 times higher than the official government count of about 5,000.

In this Earth Chakra podcast, host Chetan Bhattacharji sits down with Dr Hiren Jethva to discuss the data that disputes that claim—and the reason why the numbers are so misleading. ⬇️

 

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