Punjab's crop fires run 4.2 times higher than Indian Punjab as Lahore tops world pollution ranking
Satellite data analysed by HamariHawa found 13,241 fire spots in Pakistan's Punjab in the first 29 days of October against 3,158 across the border, as Lahore's air quality index hit 232 and the top of IQAir's world city list.
Crop-fire detections in Pakistan's Punjab were 4.2 times higher than in Indian Punjab during the first 29 days of October, according to satellite data reported by Dawn, as the province grapples with a worsening smog season that has again put Lahore at the top of the world's most polluted cities.
The analysis, published by environmental monitoring website HamariHawa and based on data from Nasa's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), found that Nasa satellites detected 13,241 fire spots in Pakistan's Punjab between 1 and 29 October, compared with 3,158 in Indian Punjab. Around 92 per cent of the detections in Pakistan's Punjab were on farmland and were likely associated with crop burning.
The pace of burning accelerated sharply towards the end of the month. Around half of the month's total — 6,655 fire spots — was detected during the last seven days of October, and 29 October was the busiest single day, with 1,327 fire spots recorded across the province.
The burning is concentrated in the rice-growing belt around Lahore. Okara recorded the highest number of fire spots, at 2,144, followed by Gujranwala with 1,011 and Nankana Sahib with 1,003. Those three districts alone recorded 4,158 fire spots, more than the entire total for Indian Punjab over the same period.
The effect on the air has been immediate. According to the live ranking published by Swiss monitoring platform IQAir, Lahore recorded an air quality index of 232 at 1pm on Saturday, placing it at the top of the list of the world's major cities and in the “very unhealthy” category. Separate same-day reports put readings even higher in other Punjab cities, with Multan reported at 434 and Gujranwala at 347.
The figures are not just numbers on a screen. Smog — a mix of fog and pollutants — settles over Punjab's cities each winter as temperatures fall, trapping smoke from crop burning, vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions close to the ground. Health experts warn that prolonged exposure worsens breathing problems, particularly for children, older people and those with existing lung or heart conditions.
The Punjab government says it is responding. The province has deployed 67 Quick Response Units to identify and prevent crop-residue burning through satellite-based fire detection and field monitoring. Director General Environment Abdullah Nayyar Sheikh said the department was implementing a zero-tolerance policy against pollution, with enforcement teams active during the day and at night.
Enforcement figures from Lahore division underline the scale of the crackdown. During October, 1,763 smoke-emitting vehicles were fined, with penalties totalling Rs5.5 million, while 2,018 industrial units were inspected, 41 units and 146 restaurants were sealed for causing pollution, and action at 49 locations against crop-residue burning led to eight police cases and fines of Rs240,000.
The satellite data itself comes with caveats that matter for how it is read. Satellites record fires only at the moment of an overpass, so they do not measure the area burned or the volume of smoke produced, and some fires may go undetected because of cloud cover or dense smog. The comparison between the two Punjabs is nevertheless stark, and the concentration of fires around Lahore helps explain why the city's air has deteriorated so fast.
Farmers burn crop residue because it is the cheapest and quickest way to clear fields between harvests, and the practice has proved stubbornly resistant to fines and awareness campaigns on both sides of the border. Without affordable alternatives — such as machinery that clears stubble without burning, or markets for the residue — the cycle repeats each autumn.
What happens next depends on the weather as much as on enforcement. Wind direction will decide how much smoke from the fields around Lahore drifts into the city itself, and a change in wind or rain could bring temporary relief. But with the smog season only beginning, and burning still running at its highest rate of the month, Punjab's cities face a difficult winter unless the fires slow.
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