As smog hangs over Lahore, Pakistan's new pollution squad races to douse stubble fires

As smog again settles over large parts of South Asia, Pakistani authorities are widening a crackdown on illegal stubble burning they say is fuelling the region's annual pollution crisis.

On Thursday, officers of a new quick-response unit swung off their vehicles at a paddy field on the edge of Lahore. Smoke curled low over the stubble, and the crew had the fire under control within minutes, keeping it from adding to the haze over a city that Swiss group IQAir rated “very unhealthy” earlier this week.

Farmers in the region commonly set leftover rice residue alight after the October harvest, fuelling a toxic mix of industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust and construction dust that lingers under cold winter air, driving pollution to hazardous levels.

The unit is the first of its kind in Pakistan dedicated to fighting pollution, officials say, and it is one of the most visible steps in a campaign that Punjab officials claim is working.

Satellites have detected less burned area in India and Pakistan than the historical average at this point in the year, even as many locals in Pakistan say they struggle to notice improvements.

CARROT AND STICK APPROACH

Silwat Saeed, chief of the Environment Protection and Climate Change Department in Pakistan’s Punjab, said the government this year formed a 750-member force in 67 rapid-response units across major rice-growing districts.

Teams aim to reach reported field fires within 10 to 15 minutes. Officials also patrol paddy areas for signs of burning, while complaints can be lodged locally, said Ashfaq Hussain, a deputy director of the force. “We receive complaints through multiple channels and respond to them in the shortest possible time,” he said.

In a single 24-hour period this week, the department received 679 field fire reports from across Punjab and said it extinguished 650 of them.

Violators face fines, arrest or both. Farmers caught burning stubble face fines of 15,000 Pakistani rupees ($54) per acre, said Muhammad Farooq, an assistant director of the Punjab Agriculture Department. Those who fail to pay the fines can also face prosecution and a possible jail term of up to six months.

The government has also distributed more than 10,000 subsidised super seeders, paying 60 per cent of their cost while farmers pay the remaining 40 per cent.

ONGOING HEALTH CRISIS

Muhammad Ismail, who farms 50 acres, said switching from stubble burning to a subsidised super seeder and other machinery had significantly boosted his wheat yield per acre.

Yet adoption is far from universal. Saleem Abbas, another local farmer who has shifted away from stubble burning, said many still favour the practice because it is widely regarded as the cheapest and fastest way to clear fields for the next crop.

Over recent years, Pakistan and India have each accused the other of worsening the air. Saeed said the challenge is huge for both countries and that Pakistan has raised it with officials from India at international forums.

India's foreign ministry did ​not respond to a request for comment.

In recent days, patients have crowded benches and corridors at local hospitals in Lahore. Abdullah Nayyar, director general of the Punjab Environment Protection Department, said health department data show smog-related throat hospitalisations last month were only at 69 per cent of the level recorded in October 2025.

But at Lahore's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Ahmed Abubakar, a heart patient who has had a bypass and is diabetic, said smog had brought on breathing problems and eye infections.

Mohammad Niaz Butt, who said his nose and throat blocked up, put it bluntly: “They are burning it, and nothing is done about it.”