In governance, as in other things, timing is crucial. Take the paddy crop stubble burning, which has shown a sharp spike since the second week of this month. Between November 8 and November 19, the number of farm fires, at 15,475, were more than the 13,238 from September 15 to November 7. And these are the officially reported events in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi. Researchers have suggested the possibility of farmers shifting their burning to the late afternoon period, when the NASA satellites don’t actively monitor the region. Whether or not such “timing” of fires — to avoid satellite overpasses, thereby escaping detection — is happening, tardy........

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