Daily Time
Lahore topped IQAir’s global pollution ranking on Friday morning with an Air Quality Index of 410. Punjab’s Environmental Protection Agency also reported hazardous readings at monitoring stations in Shahdara, Kahna Nau and GT Road. With winter barely underway and the government having stepped up its anti-smog campaign, the figures make uncomfortable reading. The authorities already have their work cut out.
To its credit, the Punjab government has brought greater urgency to pollution control. The EPA has deployed night squads and drones to identify crop burning, industrial emissions and other violations. During a province-wide operation earlier this month, officials inspected 431 brick kilns, demolished five and sealed nine. Another 269 industrial units were inspected, with 11 sealed. Such measures deserve acknowledgement, although much depends on whether offenders remain compliant once the inspection teams move on.
Yet there is more to Lahore’s predicament than meets the eye. A December 2025 assessment by the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative estimated that transport accounted for 35 per cent of the city’s PM2.5 emissions, industry 28 per cent and brick kilns 17 per cent. The report also found that Lahore had not enjoyed a single day meeting WHO clean-air guidelines in 2024. These findings should give policymakers pause before laying the blame primarily on crop burning or pollution drifting across the border. Much of the trouble lies closer to home, in smoke-belching vehicles, poorly regulated industries and the city’s ever-expanding traffic. Winter weather may trap the pollutants, but the emissions have to come from somewhere.
There is also the matter of money. The World Bank approved a $300 million concessional loan last year for Punjab’s Clean Air Programme, which aims to reduce PM2.5 concentrations by 35 per cent over a decade. Plans include 600 electric buses, 5,000 agricultural super seeders and improved monitoring facilities. The investment holds considerable promise, although the government should make public how much of the programme has been implemented and what results have followed.
The health consequences leave little room for complacency. Fine particulate matter can penetrate deep into the lungs and contribute to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Children, older people and those with existing illnesses bear a particularly heavy burden. Street vendors, traffic wardens and construction workers have little choice but to spend their working hours outdoors. Advising them to remain indoors is hardly practical when their families depend on daily earnings.
Earlier this month, a European assessment also placed Lahore among cities with extremely poor ground-level ozone conditions, exposing another dimension of its year-round pollution problem. Cleaner fuels, credible vehicle testing, industrial compliance and better public transport demand attention long after the smog season ends.
Punjab has made headway in recognising the crisis and investing in solutions. But cleaner air will require sustained enforcement and measurable reductions in emissions. Lahore’s residents have heard enough promises about cleaner skies. They deserve to see some of those promises borne out in the air they breathe. *