Patiala, Oct. 5 -- Punjab has reported a five-day pause in farm fire incidents, with no new cases recorded since September 30, according to data from the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB). This comes as a surprise during the peak paddy harvest season, a period typically marked by widespread stubble burning across the state. However, the lack of farm fire updates is primarily due to the temporary suspension of NASA's satellite data services. The suspension, caused by a lapse in the US federal government funding, has left Indian authorities without their usual source of satellite imagery for real-time monitoring of stubble burning. An official advisory on NASA's website reads: "Due to the lapse in federal government funding, NASA is not updating this website." As a result, Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), which relies on satellite data from NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), has been unable to detect and report new farm fire incidents. However, officials say the state's farm fire reporting has not been disrupted, as the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC) continues to receive data via the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). "NASA data is routed through ISRO to us. We have been reporting what ISRO informs us," said Dr Brijendra Pateriya, director of PRSC. "I cannot comment on NASA's operations, but we have been forwarding all ISRO-based inputs to the PPCB," he said. Interestingly, no fire incidents were detected even on Dussehra (October 2) - a day typically marked by the burning of effigies - indicating that the absence of farm fires is not due to misreporting or oversight by satellite systems. Typically, the PPCB begins monitoring stubble burning cases from September 15 to November 30, as the harvesting season ramps up across the state. So far this year, only 95 stubble burning incidents have been reported statewide - a stark contrast to the 179 cases recorded during the same period in 2024.Last year, Punjab ended the stubble burning season with 10,909 incidents, with Sangrur district leading the tally with 1,725 cases. Though the lack of satellite updates is the primary reason for the absence of reported farm fires, experts also point to weather conditions and delayed harvesting in some regions as contributing factors. Rajeev Gupta, nodal officer at the PPCB, said: "The recent rainfall and floods in the Majha region have delayed the harvest, and with it, the need for stubble burning. Many crops were damaged, leading to fewer fires."...