Overview

• Provincial officials unveiled Pakistan’s first Air Quality Forecast System, issuing weekly city-level outlooks and health advisories using real-time data and advanced models integrated with platforms like Windy and European forecasts.
• Authorities say 41 government monitoring stations are now feeding the system, with plans to expand toward 100, while eight-hour public air-quality updates and new “light codes” for real-time smog identification are being introduced.
• Twelve drone squads and eight e-squads have begun operations to track violations, and vehicles repeatedly cited for excessive smoke or found with faulty engines face permanent seizure after three penalties.
• To cut crop-residue burning, the plan boosts access to machinery including 5,000 super seeders and a new Harvester Program that enables equipment transfers across districts.
• Public-facing measures include a helpline at 1737 linked to police line 15, a 48-hour online appeals process for sealed businesses, nine no-plastic zones, school dustbins made from confiscated plastic due by October 31, and Rs5 billion for landfill projects in Faisalabad and Gujranwala.