The return of the smog to Punjab has begun, with Lahore briefly holding the unwanted title of the most polluted city in the world, It is no consolation that the Punjab government has issued an emergency alert, and no comfort that it is resolutely blaming the problem on East Punjab and Haryana farmers burning the stubble in their fields after the Rabi crop in preparation for the winter crop, mostly wheat. The Punjab government has undertaken several measures, such as stopping the burning of stubble on this side of the border, but it must have realized that it cannot just throw up its hands and blame Indian farmers. That might satisfy it somehow, but it does not end the problem.
The problem is now happening every year, and is being blamed on global warming. Quite apart from the efforts being made to reduce fuel pollution, it should be recognized that the problem starts with smoky vehicles spewing smoke in vast quantities. They remain on the roads because of a nonexistent vehicle inspection system. The air quality in Lahore is worsened by large particulate matter. At a time like this, the Sahiwal Power Plant’s request for more coal highlights another source of air pollution: thermal power, is spotlighted. Attempts to increase thermal generation, instead of promoting solar and other forms of renewable power generation, merely worsens the problem. The real problem is international. The Punjab CM may have coercive power here, but only persuasive power across the border. Even that persuasion has to be relayed through two federal governments. It does not help that the federal ruling party is in the Opposition in East Punjab and Delhi. The efforts by the Indian governments to stop burning stubble are not bearing much fruit, and one solution, superseeder machines which will let seeding to be done through the stubble, needs money. And unless both governments incentivize that, or some other solution, farmers are unlikely to stop burning stubble.
This is just one of many problems that will crop up as the climate changes. While Pakistan was carved out of India in 1947 for entirely good reasons, they were human reasons, not climatic. Though a line had to be drawn on the map separating them, winds and the rain do not know them. Unfortunately, the present Indian government is unwilling to talk to Pakistan, let alone cooperate. Still, the Punjab government must do its best within the existing constraints.
