The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on July 28, 2026, issued a notification regarding the use of Drones for Monitoring Stubble Burning Incidents.
The following has been stated: -
•The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) issued a directive to Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan to utilize drones for detecting and eliminating illegal crop stubble burning.
•Drones equipped with high-resolution cameras, GPS tracking, and live-streaming capabilities will specifically target late-evening hours (3 PM to 9 PM) to catch farmers attempting to evade satellite detection.
•All recorded monitoring data must be routed to CAQM's Integrated Command and Control Centre, with video records retained for three months in a centralized state database.
•State governments are required to comply with Drone Rules, 2021.
The detailed notification is given in the document below.
[Notification No.: F. No. A-110014/10/2020/ CAQM-SB-VoI. XIII/ 262]
