Bhopal, April 13 -- It's nearly 10 pm, and the burning fires are visible from the road that connects New Abbas Nagar to Meena Chauraha on the Bhopal Bypass Road. It's the first of the two stubble-burning seasons in the state capital.
Despite a ban on stubble burning, the fires, small and scattered by day, grow bolder in the dark - their orange glow visible to motorists passing through the area.
The administrative response to such incidents is typically seasonal. In the winter months, when AQI numbers inch past hazardous, officials are quick to issue challans, patrol fields, and declare 'zero tolerance'. Reports are filed, awareness drives are launched, and district authorities hold emergency meetings to manage air quality levels.
But com...