CCPO Bilal Siddique Kamyana says action is being taken without discrimination, but the police tally is small beside the scale of the pollution and the department’s own month-long numbers.
LAHORE: Lahore police have arrested 65 people and registered 37 cases for breaking environmental laws and anti-smog rules, the force said, as the city’s air quality index reached 419 on Thursday morning, the worst reading of any major city in the world.
Factories and vehicles accounted for 15 of the cases, a police spokesperson said in a statement. Eight were registered against barbecue outlets and brick kiln owners, and the remaining 14 against other sources of pollution. The statement did not say over what period the arrests were made, which neighbourhoods they came from, or how many of those held remained in custody.
Capital City Police Officer Bilal Siddique Kamyana said action against violators was being taken without discrimination, and that the force was working alongside the relevant government departments as part of the provincial anti-smog campaign.
A figure measured against the haze
The announcement came on a morning when IQAir, the Swiss air quality monitor, put Lahore’s index at 419 between 10am and 11am, far above Cairo at 274 and New Delhi at 220. The Punjab government’s own dashboard showed the city at 324. Any reading above 300 is classed as hazardous.
Lahore has spent most of October at or near the top of global pollution rankings. Earlier this week, with the index at 312, schools were told to halt outdoor activities.
Set against that backdrop, 65 arrests is a modest number. The Environment Protection Department alone inspected 11,580 brick kilns and 6,650 industrial sites across Punjab between Sept. 28 and Oct. 27, sealing 163 kilns and 191 units and demolishing more than 200 structures, Dawn reported on Thursday. Its teams also checked 4,204 eateries for suction hoods and sealed 333 of them.
Police involvement matters because only a criminal case carries the threat of arrest. Most environmental enforcement in Punjab is administrative, through fines, sealing orders and demolitions, which offenders often treat as a cost of doing business.
Smoke on the roads
Kamyana directed the city traffic police to keep up action against smoke-emitting vehicles, which environmental officials regard as one of the largest local sources of fine particulate matter in Lahore.
The province has tightened its approach over the past year. Last November, during the previous smog season, Punjab traffic police fined more than 48,400 vehicles and impounded over 7,700 for emissions, according to figures reported by PakWheels. Last month, provincial teams fined about 3,000 smoky vehicles in a single drive, and the government has been preparing a phased crackdown on ageing vehicles.
AI-enabled cameras run by the Punjab Safe Cities Authority are now part of that effort, having flagged 1,327 smog-related violations in three days in September.
Barbecue smoke and brick kilns
The inclusion of barbecue outlets reflects a rule that has become a recurring flashpoint in the city’s food streets. Eateries that grill over open flames are required to install suction hoods, and authorities sealed 27 Lahore restaurants over missing hoods in September.
Brick kilns on Lahore’s outskirts, in areas such as Kahna, Raiwind and along the Kasur and Sheikhupura roads, remain under pressure to switch to zig-zag technology, which burns fuel more efficiently and emits less smoke. Kilns that have not converted face sealing and demolition during the smog months.
The statement did not break down arrests by category, name any factory or business, or say whether any of those held had been released on bail, as is common in environmental cases. It also gave no comparison with last year. The Nation reported last December that Lahore police had arrested 487 people in anti-smog operations during the 2025 season.
The figure also arrives in a week when Kamyana’s force has been stretched on other fronts, with the CCPO ordering crackdowns on pickpocketing, theft and burglary and citing a fall in overall crime even as abduction reports rise.
Citizens asked to play their part
Kamyana urged residents to comply with anti-smog rules and help protect the environment. Burning waste, leaves or plastic is banned under rules the province tightened ahead of the smog season, along with dry road sweeping.
Residents can report smoke-emitting vehicles, open burning and other violations to the police helpline 15. Doctors have advised people to limit time outdoors, wear N95 masks when they must go out, and keep doors and windows closed while the smog persists.
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