BHOPAL: As the country grapples with worsening air quality, it has been revealed that Madhya Pradesh—the home state of Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan—is contributing the maximum to stubble burning. According to the recent statistics pertaining to monitoring paddy residue burning in the country via satellite remote sensing, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) detected as many as 33,028 active burning events in six study states.
The six study states are: Punjab, Haryana, UP, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. As per the recent report, out of the 33,028 active fire events detected across the six states, a maximum 17,067 or 52% events was detected in MP. Importantly, these 17,067 active burning events detected in MP, between September 15 and November 30, 2025, were more than the collective 15,961 similar active events reported in the same period in the five other states.
Among the five other states, 5,114 burning events were detected in Punjab, 662 in Haryana, 7290 in UP, just 5 in Delhi and 2,890 in Rajasthan. Similar picture was revealed when it came to 292 crop residue active burning events detected in the six study states on November 30.
MP again attained the top position with 160 burning events, which was more than the total 132 burning events in the 5 other states. Burning events detected in the 5 other states on November 30, included 2 in Punjab, 3 in Punjab, 125 in UP, nil in Delhi, and just 2 in Rajasthan.
Further analysis of the crop residue burning events detected through the satellite remote sensing technology recently revealed that the Gwalior-Chambal region contributed the maximum to stubble burning in the forest-rich central Indian state.
Out of the 17,067 active burning events between September 15 and November 30, a maximum 2,643 were reported in Sheopur district, which borders Rajasthan. As many as 1,930 events were detected in Gwalior district, followed by 1,797 events in the adjoining Datia. Other districts of the same region where significant active burning events were detected included Ashoknagar (506) and 64 in Morena.
Raging menace
Using satellite remote sensing, ICAR detected 33,028 paddy residue burning events across six states between Sept 15 and November 20, 2025
The six states are Punjab, Haryana , Uttar Pradesh ,Delhi , Rajasthan , Madhya Pradesh
MP’s 17,067 incidents exceeded the combined 15,961 fires reported by the other five states
The other states reported
Punjab - 5,114 Haryana - 662
Uttar Pradesh - 7,290 Delhi - 5
Rajasthan - 2,890
Burning events in the five states on Nov 30: Punjab 2, Haryana 3, UP 125 Delhi 0, Rajasthan 2.