Fields of smoke

Punjab's annual battle against smog cannot be won through fines or emergency measures alone. Every winter, the province finds itself confronting the same public health crisis with deteriorating air quality. Yet the persistence of crop-residue burning suggests that the authorities have failed to address one of the major contributors to this recurring emergency.

The latest satellite findings indicate that agricultural fires in Pakistan's Punjab now considerably outnumber those across the border in India, despite years of official campaigns against the practice. According to an environmental monitoring platform HamariHawa, Nasa satellites detected 13,241 fire spots in Pakistan's Punjab between October 1 and 29, compared with 3,158 in Indian Punjab. An estimated 92% of these detections were on farmland, suggesting widespread crop burning. These figures demand serious reflection on the measures and policies that have been adopted, particularly when the neighbouring province has demonstrated that substantial reductions are possible. The Punjab government has deployed 67 Quick Response Units but the detection of thousands of fires within a matter of days raises questions about the effectiveness of these arrangements. The underlying problem is that crop burning remains an economically convenient option. Many cannot afford specialised machinery, while others lack access to equipment capable of managing agricultural residue efficiently. The government must recognise that punitive measures, however necessary, cannot succeed without practical alternatives.

There is also an urgent need to improve transparency and accountability. Satellite monitoring should be accompanied by district-wise reporting that allows the public to assess whether enforcement measures are producing results. Authorities should identify persistent hotspots and investigate why burning continues in these areas. Without reliable public data, government's claims of progress will remain difficult to substantiate.