HamariHawa

Report · 28 Oct 2026

Madhya Pradesh overtakes Indian Punjab: satellite fire spots in October, 2019–2026

From 1 to 24 October 2026 the Suomi NPP satellite recorded 1,831 fire spots in Madhya Pradesh, the most in eight years. Indian Punjab had 453 and Haryana 62, the fewest in eight years. These are satellite heat detections, not confirmed fires. The crossing is not new: in the late season, 25 October to 30 November, Madhya Pradesh already had more spots than Indian Punjab in 2024 (13,229 against 6,912) and 2025 (13,876 against 2,954). India's national count of 12,600, +0.3% on the 2019–2025 mean, looks steady mainly because coal and industrial districts lead it, not because the burning moved.

Parali ki aag: 1–24 October 2026 mein Suomi NPP satellite ne Madhya Pradesh mein 1,831 fire spots dekhe, aath saal mein sabse zyada, jabke Indian Punjab mein 453 aur Haryana mein 62, sabse kam. Late season mein MP 2024 aur 2025 mein hi Indian Punjab se aage tha (2025 mein 13,876 bana 2,954); yeh satellite ke garmi wale spots hain, pakki aag nahin.

1,831Madhya Pradesh, 1–24 Oct 2026, highest of 8 years
−89.2%Indian Punjab, 1–24 Oct 2026 vs 2019–2025 mean
13,876 vs 2,954Madhya Pradesh vs Indian Punjab, 25 Oct–30 Nov 2025
+0.3%India, 1–24 Oct 2026 vs 2019–2025 mean

Check this report. Every number here is in data.json, with the HamariHawa data file each one came from. The data is NASA FIRMS, mapped by open-source code. Fire spots are satellite heat detections, not confirmed fires.

Two records in the same three weeks

All year-to-year counts here are fire spots seen by one satellite, Suomi NPP, between 1 and 24 October. A fire spot is a heat detection, not confirmed fires on the ground, and the label 'crop' is seasonal, not a confirmed field burn.

Madhya Pradesh had 1,831 spots in 2026, the highest of eight years and +173.7% on its 2019–2025 mean of 669.0; in 2019 it had 131. Indian Punjab had 453, the lowest of eight years and −89.2% on a mean of 4,185.3; in 2020 it had 10,842. Haryana had 62, also the lowest, −95.6% on a mean of 1,398.9; in 2019 it had 2,615.

Rajasthan had 622, the second highest of eight years and +60.7% on a mean of 387.1. India as a whole had 12,600, fourth of eight years and +0.3% on a mean of 12,564.4. Indian Punjab's count has fallen in every year since 2021, while Madhya Pradesh's earlier high was 1,304 in 2023.

The two movements are not a mirror image. Madhya Pradesh's rise is much smaller, in spots, than Indian Punjab's fall, so it cannot on its own hold India's total steady. The states also differ in size and cropped area: these are counts, not densities, so each state is best read against its own past.

Fire spots seen by Suomi NPP, 1–24 October, 2019–2026
05k10k15kIndian Punjab 2019: 4,983Indian Punjab 2020: 10,842Indian Punjab 2021: 5,460Indian Punjab 2022: 4,705Indian Punjab 2023: 1,833Indian Punjab 2024: 993Indian Punjab 2025: 481Indian Punjab 2026: 453Haryana 2019: 2,615Haryana 2020: 1,882Haryana 2021: 2,222Haryana 2022: 1,433Haryana 2023: 885Haryana 2024: 586Haryana 2025: 169Haryana 2026: 62Madhya Pradesh 2019: 131Madhya Pradesh 2020: 994Madhya Pradesh 2021: 349Madhya Pradesh 2022: 366Madhya Pradesh 2023: 1,304Madhya Pradesh 2024: 998Madhya Pradesh 2025: 541Madhya Pradesh 2026: 1,831Rajasthan 2019: 147Rajasthan 2020: 413Rajasthan 2021: 190Rajasthan 2022: 313Rajasthan 2023: 671Rajasthan 2024: 487Rajasthan 2025: 489Rajasthan 2026: 622Madhya Pradesh1,831Rajasthan622Indian Punjab453Haryana6220192020202120222023202420252026
Suomi NPP fire spots, 1–24 October, 2019–2026
YearIndiaIndian PunjabHaryanaMadhya PradeshRajasthan
201913,0484,9832,615131147
202020,26710,8421,882994413
202113,7485,4602,222349190
202211,7554,7051,433366313
202311,9291,8338851,304671
20248,615993586998487
20258,589481169541489
202612,600453621,831622
2026 vs 2019–2025 mean+0.3% (rank 4 of 8)−89.2% (rank 8 of 8)−95.6% (rank 8 of 8)+173.7% (rank 1 of 8)+60.7% (rank 2 of 8)

Madhya Pradesh passed Indian Punjab in the late season in 2024

The first 24 days of October are only the opening of the season. From 25 October to 30 November, Indian Punjab's Suomi NPP count fell from 64,893 in 2021 to 6,912 in 2024 and 2,954 in 2025, the lowest of seven years and −92.2% on the earlier mean of 38,036.8.

Over the same weeks Madhya Pradesh had 13,229 spots in 2024 and 13,876 in 2025, its highest of seven years and +46.8% on its earlier mean of 9,455.0. So Madhya Pradesh has had more late-season spots than Indian Punjab for at least two seasons; the 2026 October record is the early-window sign of a crossing that had already happened.

Madhya Pradesh's late season is much bigger than its October count. Whether 2026 brings a bigger season or only an earlier start is not yet known; that will be clear only after 30 November.

Fire spots seen by Suomi NPP, 25 October–30 November, 2019–2025
020k40k60k80k2019, Indian Punjab: 36,3622019, Madhya Pradesh: 4,95620192020, Indian Punjab: 55,3962020, Madhya Pradesh: 9,99720202021, Indian Punjab: 64,8932021, Madhya Pradesh: 7,24720212022, Indian Punjab: 37,9292022, Madhya Pradesh: 10,96320222023, Indian Punjab: 26,7292023, Madhya Pradesh: 10,33820232024, Indian Punjab: 6,9122024, Madhya Pradesh: 13,22920242025, Indian Punjab: 2,9542025, Madhya Pradesh: 13,8762025
Indian PunjabMadhya Pradesh
Suomi NPP fire spots, 25 October–30 November, 2019–2025
YearIndian PunjabMadhya Pradesh
201936,3624,956
202055,3969,997
202164,8937,247
202237,92910,963
202326,72910,338
20246,91213,229
20252,95413,876
2025 vs 2019–2024 mean−92.2% (rank 7 of 7)+46.8% (rank 1 of 7)

Guna and Ashoknagar lead, as they have before

Counting all satellites, Guna was third among Indian districts from 1 to 24 October 2026 with 1,133 spots (Suomi NPP 346) and Ashoknagar fifth with 724 (242). Sehore (403; 163) and Shivpuri (387; 103) were also in the top 20.

These are not new places. In 2023 Guna led Madhya Pradesh with 768 spots (Suomi NPP 255), 20.5% of the state, with Narmadapuram, Ashoknagar and Shivpuri also in the top six. In 2025 Guna was second with 197 (Suomi NPP 69), behind Singrauli with 217 (102).

In Guna, daily counts were in single digits in early October, jumped to 111 on 18 October and peaked at 115 on 22 October.

In the week of 18–24 October, Guna led India with 657 spots (+59.5% on the week before) and Ashoknagar was third with 467 (+106.6%). Shivpuri (262), Narmadapuram (220) and Bundi in Rajasthan (255, +672.7%) entered the top 12. Indian Punjab's season is starting too: Tarn Taran had 456 (+171.4%) and Amritsar 245 (+210.1%). HamariHawa's live feed for the 24 hours to the satellite pass of 25 October still listed Guna (105) and Ashoknagar (72) among the busiest districts, though that falls outside the window counted here.

Guna district, daily fire spots from all satellites, October 2026 (1, 2 and 4 October not in the busiest-district list)
0501001503 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 33 Oct5 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 55 Oct6 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 56 Oct7 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 77 Oct8 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 158 Oct9 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 119 Oct10 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 1810 Oct11 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 3211 Oct12 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 4512 Oct13 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 3113 Oct14 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 6414 Oct15 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 9215 Oct16 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 8516 Oct17 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 6317 Oct18 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 11118 Oct19 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 6319 Oct20 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 5420 Oct21 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 11221 Oct22 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 11522 Oct23 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 9523 Oct24 Oct, Guna, all satellites: 10724 Oct
Guna, all satellites
Madhya Pradesh's leading districts, 1–24 October: all-satellite spots (Suomi NPP in brackets). 2023 and 2025 from the state's top-10 lists; 2026 from India's top-20 list; 'not listed' means absent from that list
District202320252026
Guna768 (255)197 (69)1,133 (346)
Ashoknagar157 (76)73 (16)724 (242)
Shivpuri154 (53)not listed387 (103)
Narmadapuram234 (92)not listednot listed
Sehorenot listed125 (42)403 (163)
Singrauli153 (54)217 (102)not listed
Selected districts in India's top 12, week of 18–24 October 2026, all satellites, against 11–17 October
DistrictStateSpots 18–24 OctSuomi NPPSpots 11–17 OctChange
GunaMadhya Pradesh657213412+59.5%
AshoknagarMadhya Pradesh467166226+106.6%
Tarn TaranIndian Punjab456155168+171.4%
BaranRajasthan287115173+65.9%
ShivpuriMadhya Pradesh26275111+136.0%
BundiRajasthan2559933+672.7%
AmritsarIndian Punjab2455879+210.1%
NarmadapuramMadhya Pradesh2206971+209.9%

Did the burning move? India's total is held up by industrial heat

The strongest alternative reading of a 'shift' is that burning moved from Indian Punjab and Haryana to Madhya Pradesh, keeping India's total level. The district lists do not support that. The two busiest Indian districts from 1 to 24 October were Dhanbad in Jharkhand (1,641 spots; Suomi NPP 838) and Angul in Odisha (1,438; 810), and Paschim Bardhaman, Bokaro, Raigarh, Jharsuguda, Jajpur, Sundargarh, Ballari, Korba and Ramgarh are also in the top 20.

Dhanbad has 123 known pollution sources within 25 km of its fire centre: 120 places where fires are detected on many days a year and 3 power plants, one detected on 201 days. On 24 October the busiest villages included Dera Colliery Township in Angul (27) and Kusunda in Dhanbad (23). A large part of India's steady total appears to be industrial heat, not crop burning.

Madhya Pradesh's leading districts look different. There are no known industrial sites, kilns or landfills within 30 km of the centre of Guna district's fire spots on 23 or 24 October, or of the centre of Ashoknagar district's fire spots on 24 October. That fits fires on farmland, but the sites directory may be incomplete, and Singrauli, which led the state in 2025 and is known as a coal and power district, was not checked.

Both things are true at once: Indian Punjab and Haryana have fallen, and Madhya Pradesh has risen. Nothing in these counts shows that one caused the other. Madhya Pradesh grows different crops on a different harvest calendar, so its fires may well not be paddy residue at all.

India's 20 busiest districts, 1–24 October 2026, all-satellite spots and Suomi NPP
RankDistrictStateAll satellitesSuomi NPP
1DhanbadJharkhand1,641838
2AngulOdisha1,438810
3GunaMadhya Pradesh1,133346
4Paschim BardhamanWest Bengal818392
5AshoknagarMadhya Pradesh724242
6BokaroJharkhand708343
7Tarn TaranIndian Punjab699227
8RaigarhChhattisgarh598278
9JharsugudaOdisha581272
10BaranRajasthan537177
11JajpurOdisha530288
12SundargarhOdisha509202
13BallariKarnataka482218
14AmritsarIndian Punjab438113
15RaipurChhattisgarh424165
16KorbaChhattisgarh408177
17SehoreMadhya Pradesh403163
18ShivpuriMadhya Pradesh387103
19RamgarhJharkhand385161
20NizamabadTelangana370106

Fewer fires, or fires the satellite missed?

Suomi NPP passes over in the early afternoon, so burning later in the day, or in smaller patches, could escape it. HamariHawa's archive gives night detections for the whole region, not per state, so this cannot be fully tested for Indian Punjab or Haryana.

A partial check is the all-satellite count, which includes other passes. Indian Punjab had 1,609 all-satellite spots in 2026, against 1,626 in 2025 and 22,208 in 2020; Haryana had 222. All-satellite counts are not comparable across years and would tend to rise as satellites are added, so a low figure weakens, but does not rule out, the idea that farmers are burning later or in smaller patches.

Can these counts be trusted?

No days are flagged missing, but 13 October 2026 is effectively a Suomi NPP gap: India had 4 Suomi NPP spots that day, against 337 to 1,047 on every other day, and Guna had 0 against 31 from all satellites. The gap affects only 2026, so it slightly undercounts this year: Madhya Pradesh's record is conservative and Indian Punjab's low slightly deeper.

State totals are built from each day's list of busiest districts, so they slightly undercount. Counts are not normalised for cropped area, and none of these spots has been checked on the ground.

What is not known: whether Madhya Pradesh's 2026 season will be bigger or only earlier; how much of the state total comes from industrial sources such as Singrauli; and which cities smoke from central India reaches. These counts cannot answer the last question.

India, daily fire spots seen by Suomi NPP, 1–24 October 2026; 13 October is effectively a gap
05001k1.5kIndia, Suomi NPP 1 Oct: 348India, Suomi NPP 2 Oct: 387India, Suomi NPP 3 Oct: 410India, Suomi NPP 4 Oct: 419India, Suomi NPP 5 Oct: 451India, Suomi NPP 6 Oct: 337India, Suomi NPP 7 Oct: 472India, Suomi NPP 8 Oct: 400India, Suomi NPP 9 Oct: 463India, Suomi NPP 10 Oct: 430India, Suomi NPP 11 Oct: 443India, Suomi NPP 12 Oct: 566India, Suomi NPP 13 Oct: 4India, Suomi NPP 14 Oct: 680India, Suomi NPP 15 Oct: 575India, Suomi NPP 16 Oct: 445India, Suomi NPP 17 Oct: 530India, Suomi NPP 18 Oct: 789India, Suomi NPP 19 Oct: 653India, Suomi NPP 20 Oct: 432India, Suomi NPP 21 Oct: 692India, Suomi NPP 22 Oct: 681India, Suomi NPP 23 Oct: 946India, Suomi NPP 24 Oct: 1,047India, Suomi NPP1,0471 Oct2 Oct3 Oct4 Oct5 Oct6 Oct7 Oct8 Oct9 Oct10 Oct11 Oct12 Oct13 Oct14 Oct15 Oct16 Oct17 Oct18 Oct19 Oct20 Oct21 Oct22 Oct23 Oct24 Oct

How this was counted

To cite: HamariHawa, "Madhya Pradesh overtakes Indian Punjab: satellite fire spots in October, 2019–2026", hamarihawa.org/report/madhya-pradesh-indian-punjab-fire-spots/, October 2026.