Crop-fire detections in Pakistan's Punjab ran 4.2 times higher than in Indian Punjab over the first 29 days of October, according to satellite data analysed as the province contends with worsening smog.
Environmental monitoring site HamariHawa, drawing on Nasa's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) — a satellite-based fire alert service — counted 13,241 fire spots in Pakistan's Punjab between Oct 1 and 29, against 3,158 across Indian Punjab. The readings come from VIIRS sensors on the Suomi NPP, NOAA-20 and NOAA-21 satellites.
Most fires linked to farmland
HamariHawa reported that 92 per cent of the detected spots in Pakistan's Punjab sat on farmland and were likely tied to crop burning. Roughly half the month's total — 6,655 spots — appeared in the last seven days of October, pointing to a late-month rise. Oct 29 was the peak day, with 1,327 detections in Pakistan's Punjab.
A narrower check using only Suomi NPP, which allows year-to-year comparison on one platform, still showed a wide gap: 4,562 spots in Pakistan's Punjab versus 918 in Indian Punjab over the same Oct 1–29 window.
Rice belt around Lahore hardest hit
Burning was concentrated in the rice-growing districts around Lahore. Okara logged the most fire spots at 2,144, followed by Gujranwala with 1,011 and Nankana Sahib with 1,003. Those three districts alone totalled 4,158 detections — more than the whole of Indian Punjab's 3,158 over the same period.
Other high counts included Pakpattan (922), Sheikhupura (756), Hafizabad (713), Dera Ghazi Khan (710), Kasur (699), Khanewal (682) and Jhang (676). HamariHawa noted that smoke from fires across these areas can add to Lahore's poor air quality when winds blow toward the city.
The analysis cautioned that satellite detections mark places where fires were burning when satellites passed overhead. They do not measure how much land burned or how much smoke was produced, and fires between passes can be missed.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- 2019 (Oct 1–29): Indian Punjab recorded almost five times as many fire detections as Pakistan's Punjab — 14,002 versus 2,908.
- 2019–2025: Detections in Pakistan's Punjab rose by 33 per cent, HamariHawa's historical review found.
- 2021–2025: Indian Punjab cut satellite-detected crop fires by 95 per cent.
- 2025: Pakistan's Punjab logged 12,364 fire spots against 3,714 in Indian Punjab — 3.3 times as many.
- Oct 1–29 (latest window): Pakistan's Punjab 13,241; Indian Punjab 3,158 — a 4.2-times gap.
- Oct 29: Busiest single day in Pakistan's Punjab, with 1,327 fire spots; 6,655 of the month's detections fell in the last seven days.
Aasan alfaaz mein
October ke pehle 29 dinon mein Pakistan ke Punjab mein fasal jalanay se judi aag ke satellite isharay Indian Punjab se 4.2 guna zyada rahe. Okara, Gujranwala aur Nankana Sahib jaise Lahore ke aas-paas ke ilaqon mein yeh aag zyada dekhi gayi. Dhuaan hawa ke rukh ke mutabiq Lahore ki hawa ko mazid kharab kar sakta hai. Satellite sirf us waqt ki aag dikhati hai jab woh guzarti hain — yeh poora dhuaan ya jali hui zameen nahi napti.
