India, Oct. 14 -- Union ministers Bhupender Yadav and Shivraj Singh Chouhan jointly held a high-level review meeting on stubble burning at Krishi Bhawan on Tuesday, issuing strict instructions to states to monitor fields for farm fire incidents after 3 pm - when farmers are likely to burn stubble residue to evade satellite detection.

Even as farm fire counts have been declining across northern states year-on-year, multiple studies have recently suggested a trend in which farmers are setting their fields ablaze later in the day, thereby evading satellite detection and presenting an inaccurate picture of the ground reality.

In the meeting, union environment minister Yadav called for the need to intensify ground-level monitoring and enforc...