Lahore’s smog: Where are the results?

Another smog season is here, and Lahore and much of Punjab are once again struggling with poor air quality. The problem is familiar, but what is different this year is the government’s response. There is more attention, more funding, and a greater sense of urgency. Yet the question remains whether all these efforts are actually making the air cleaner.

As discussed in an earlier article, “Punjab’s Smog Challenge: Will This Year Be Different?”, the provincial government has taken a more serious approach this time. Instead of relying mainly on emergency measures during the winter months, it is moving towards year-round air quality management. The $300 million World Bank-supported Punjab Clean Air Program (PCAP), expansion of monitoring stations, use of drones and AI-based surveillance, electric transport initiatives, and measures to control crop burning are all steps in the right direction.

These efforts deserve recognition. For years, smog was largely treated as a seasonal problem, with restrictions imposed when pollution reached alarming levels. The growing focus on monitoring, regulation and cleaner technologies is a welcome change. However, spending billions and introducing new technologies is one thing; showing that they are reducing pollution is another.

The scale of the problem remains worrying. According to IQAir’s 2025 World Air Quality Report, released in March 2026, Lahore’s annual average PM2.5 concentration declined from 102.1 micrograms per cubic metre in 2024 to 88.9 in 2025, still nearly 18 times the World Health Organization’s recommended level of 5. More recent data show some improvement.

According to the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI), Lahore’s PM2.5 concentrations fell by 27 percent year-on-year in October 2026. However, after accounting for weather conditions, the improvement was estimated at just 4 percent. This suggests that much of the improvement was due to favourable weather rather than a clear reduction in emissions. It also raises questions about how much of the improvement can be attributed to government interventions.

The bigger concern is whether the government has enough reliable information about where this pollution is coming from and how best to tackle it.

A February 2025 study by the Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC) highlights gaps in pollution data, poor coordination, and weak enforcement. Recent report by Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI)published in 2026, identifies transport as Lahore’s largest source of primary PM2.5 emissions at 35 percent, followed by heavy industry at 28 percent and brick kilns at 17 percent. These findings reinforce the need to focus on major pollution sources, backed by reliable data and stronger enforcement.

The problem is not that Pakistan lacks policies or regulations. There are already laws governing industrial emissions, vehicle fitness, and environmental standards.

The SPDC study argues that implementation has remained inconsistent, with departments often working in isolation and enforcement falling short. This is particularly important because controlling pollution requires action across several sectors, from transport and industry to agriculture and waste management.

An August 2026 study by the International Growth Centre (IGC), “Enhancing Public Response to Smog Alerts: Evidence from Lahore”, based on a survey of 300 Lahore residents, found that people perceived vehicles (40.8 percent) and industry (38.3 percent) as the main sources of pollution.

The researchers also developed a Smog Alert app with Punjab’s Urban Unit, which 39 percent of respondents downloaded, while 47 percent called for stronger government enforcement.

The findings show growing public concern, but monitoring pollution and reducing it remain two different challenges.

This is where the government’s current efforts need closer attention. Monitoring stations, cameras, drones, and forecasting systems can help identify pollution and violations. But what happens after that? Are factories reducing emissions? Are polluting vehicles being removed from roads? Is fuel quality improving? Is crop burning declining?

Punjab has started taking steps in these areas through electric public transport, vehicle emission testing, Super Seeders for farmers and industrial monitoring. These are positive developments, and many of the initiatives are still new. It would be unfair to judge them too early. However, there is still limited publicly available evidence showing how much these measures have actually reduced pollution.

This does not mean that government spending is being wasted. Rather, the focus now needs to shift towards results. Clear targets for reducing emissions, reliable pollution data and independent assessments of government programmes are needed to see what is working and what is not.

Air quality should also be measured over longer periods, keeping seasonal and weather changes in mind. A few days of cleaner air do not necessarily mean the situation is improving, just as a few days of severe smog do not prove that government measures have failed.

This year, Punjab has made a more serious start than in previous years, and that is welcome. But the next challenge is to show that these efforts are making a real difference.

The success of the government’s anti-smog strategy should not be measured by how many monitoring stations are installed, cameras deployed or billions spent, but by whether people in Lahore and the rest of Punjab are breathing cleaner air.