Punjab launches satellite-based air quality forecasting system, plans 100 monitoring stations

Profit reported that the Punjab Environment Protection and Climate Change Department has added satellite-based monitoring and forecasting to its real-time air quality dashboard. The upgrade allows officials to pinpoint pollution hotspots and estimate how air quality will change over the coming hours and days. The features were unveiled with ICIMOD on the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies.

The revamped AQI Punjab Dashboard combines readings from ground stations, satellites, weather data and pollution forecasting models to trace emission sources across the province. At present, 59 monitoring stations across the province transmit readings to it without human intervention. Director General Abdullah Nayyar Sheikh of EPA Punjab noted that the network has grown from only three Lahore stations in 2024, and the government intends to reach 100.

Alongside the monitoring push, officials are deploying mist cannons to suppress fugitive dust and stepping up enforcement sector by sector against large emitters. According to Sheikh, the system should help departments spot areas with high pollution, prepare for severe episodes and act quickly to curb emissions. The work is supported by ICIMOD's Himalayan Resilience Enabling Action Programme, which is backed by UK funding. This dashboard is Pakistan's earliest of its type to gain international recognition from ICIMOD.