Samia Zafar

The air quality in Pakistan is deeply shocking with air pollution reaching approximately 40 times the world’s Health Organization recommended limit. Lahore, ranked as second most polluted city globally on 23rd November, 2024. And the Air Quality Index was (AQI) was 369, with some cities crossing AQI levels above 450, completely hazardous situation. This recurring pattern has become environmental concern, mostly in cities with zero visibility and acute respiratory issues as reported by The News. A large number of patients with serious respiratory tract infections are on the horizon in Islamabad and Rawalpindi according to reports (The News).

The government largely accuse the crop burning by farmers as major cause of smog, but the greater picture is far more complex. Merely simplifying this issue as cause of smog burning is to divert attention from other significant contributors to smog, as vehicle emissions, industrial pollution, and construction dust. Pakistan needs a proactive and pragmatic approach to tackle the smog crisis that addresses its root cause, including crop burning, while offering sustainable substitutes to farmers. The practice of setting fire to agricultural residue for field clearance also known as crop burning, is unquestionably a contributor to smog. In Punjab, a large amount of paddy stubble is created as a result of wheat-rice cropping mechanism. And this residue is set to fire due to lack of cost-effective and resilient alternatives for disposal. This pattern sows the seeds for methane, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter into the atmosphere, igniting air pollution during the foggy weather as happening in critical winter months. The misty weather conditions trap the pollutants near the ground. While crop burning is measurable contributor to smog, but solely blaming the crop burning is to oversimplify this issue. Farmers utilize this practice out of necessity, driven by financial constraints and the indifference of state in providing solutions to crop burning.

What larger picture manifests is other causes of smog as vehicle emissions, industrial pollution, construction dust, and poor waste management. Expanding urban population led to increased number of vehicles on the road. This results in significant amount of air pollution due to usage of low-quality fuels and lack of strict emissions standards. Arifa Noor in her article Are Roads Killing us? demonstrate the smog dilemma in following words: cities cannot become concrete jungles of flyovers and interchanges for the comfort of cars and still ensure blue skies and clean air. Also, industrial pollution is another major source contributing to worst air quality due to unregulated industrial units. These factories emit toxic substances, including sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Similarly, construction boom in the urban areas results in massive amounts of dust, particularly from demolition areas and unpaved roads. Additionally, the open burning of municipal waste, including plastic and other waste materials, significantly contributes to toxic air pollutants.

Accusing farmers without comprehending systemic issues is adding debt to environmental concerns and is also unfair. It ignores the economic difficulties of farmers who lack advanced machinery for crop residue system. Also, blaming solely farmers for crop burning shifts the attention away from other contributors to smog, requiring equal attention.

Pakistan should follow the consortium of countries having successfully controlled crop burning with the help of innovative technologies and farmer-friendly solutions. The best paragon is of India’ happy seeder technology has been a game changer for crop residue as it allows farmers to sow wheat without burning paddy stubble. Awareness campaigns and subsidies given by government can facilitate its adoption. Likewise, China has developed mechanism to convert agricultural residue into bioenergy. Stuble is collected firstly and processed into biochar or utilized in biomass power plants. Incentives should be given to farmers to sell their residue instead of burning them. In the United States, these crop residues are repurposed as animal feed. This practice can provide additional income source for farmers. Pakistan should learn from global practices and adopt alternative methods for crop burning to reduce smog. Government should subsidize the machinery like happy seeders to make them affordable to farmers. Programs should be initiated to convert stubble into bioenergy or compost. Vehicle and industrial emissions should be regulated. Adoption of cleaner energy should be encouraged and incentives should be provided in this regard. Educate the farmers about the impacts of crop burning and focus should be on collective action to mitigate bad agricultural practices. Also, dust control measures at construction sites should be enforced. And those farmers, who adopt sustainable practices should be rewarded with tax breaks or financial rewards.

Hence, adopting best global practices and tailoring them to local conditions can best curtail one out of many causes of smog. A collaborative and inclusive approach is key to cleaner air and healthy environment for all. As Wendell Berry says,

“The earth is what we all have in common.”

Samia Zafar She is doing Masters in Political Sciene from Government College University, Lahore. Currently, she is also working at Dahqaan Pakistan.