New Delhi, July 30 -- The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Wednesday said it has issued a detailed standard operating procedure (SOP) and framework for using drones to Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan in this upcoming winter season, to detect crop-burning incidents on a real-time basis. The SOP, issued to the chief secretaries of the four agrarian states, asks for drone deployment to be done preferably between 3 pm and 9 pm - when farmers are more likely to make attempts to evade satellite detection, it said. The SOP also calls for states to maintain a central database of all drone-captured videos till at least three months after the harvesting season is over; to prepare detailed drone flight plans and to identify the total number of drones required, with a first action taken report (ATR) on the implementation of this to be submitted to CAQM by August 14. This comes a day after HT had on July 29 reported CAQM has asked Punjab and Haryana to start procuring drones for this winter season, following a successful pilot study in May. A CAQM official said while the initial plan was to cover hotspots in only these two states, however, it has now been decided to widen the ambit. "We have now decided to include UP and Rajasthan too. The detailed framework has been issued to four states, who will be required to share an update on its implementation by August 14," a CAQM official told HT....