The Punjab government is facing criticism and accusations of data manipulation after climate analysts and social media users accused the Environment Protection and Climate Change Department (EPCCD) of deliberately closing air quality monitoring stations in Lahore during peak pollution hours.
Controversy erupted when climate and public policy analyst Dawar Hameed Butt posted a series of tweets on
“EPCCD Punjab has switched off monitoring stations in Lahore,” Butt tweeted. “Those who remain are still ‘beyond the index’. These are PAS officers, doctors and ‘educated’ staff, and they believe that closing their eyes will solve the problem. Now absolute failure is occurring.”
He backed up his claims with screenshots from the official government website, aqipunjab.com, showing that data from several stations had not been updated for hours and were still showing readings from October 30.
Another social media user, Hassan Aftab, echoed the allegations and suggested a “strategic motive behind the alleged closures.”
“Punjab government’s new air quality strategy: If pollution levels look bad, just turn off the monitors. [Eight] in 10 monitors are closed beyond 10 pm in Lahore (when air quality drops further) to reduce the average. “Lahore now breathes cleaner air (on paper),” he tweeted.
Aftab tagged Chief Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, urging transparency. “Let’s make sure there is uninterrupted data from the monitors; this will only help come up with a better strategy to solve this,” he added, pointing to the millions already spent on monitoring infrastructure.
In a post on X, the EPCCD stated that due to a technical problem, ICA monitoring at some stations had been interrupted.
“[A] The technical team is working to restore regular data transmission. Current and missing AQI data from air quality monitoring stations will be available soon,” the post said.
When verified by Sunrise As of 5pm on Friday, the aqipunjab.com website appeared to have updated most stations, with only the Multan Road station delayed. However, the updated data itself painted a bleak picture of the province’s air quality, underscoring the critical need for reliable monitoring.
At the time, Kasur was ranked as the most polluted city in Punjab, with an AQI rising to a dangerous level of 500. Other major cities also recorded unhealthy air, with Gujranwala at 207, DG Khan at 190, Multan at 187 and Lahore at 175.
Responding to the allegations, EPCCD spokesperson Sajid Bashir strongly denied the allegations and said Sunrise that the department updates air quality levels hourly and dismissed accusations from social media users as “false claims.”
Bashir rejected the screenshots shared by Dawar and others, affirming the department’s commitment to providing accurate data.
Earlier this week, Lahore still ranked as the most polluted city in the world in terms of air quality, according to global monitor IQAir.
In response to the crisis, Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) also launched a large-scale anti-smog operation, deploying 16 mechanical washers, 50 regular washers and 400 workers for road washing and water spraying.
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb in a statement lauded the efforts of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz in handling anti-smog operations, terming her hard work as “a testimony to the success of the vision of improving the environment”.
“In the coming years, Punjab will see improvements like Beijing,” he said.
‘Brief technical failure’
Aurangzeb, in a statement issued later in the day, said there was a “brief technical failure” in the air quality monitoring network today.
“EPA’s Smog War Room immediately flagged it and the supplier resolved it at 3:00 pm on the same day. The issue was purely technical, not administrative, and was transparently announced on the official portal,” the statement said.
Praising the monitoring system, the minister said the fact that the brief technical outage was noticed “shows how widely and publicly trusted our system has become.”
Aurangzeb maintained that if the government wanted to hide the date on air quality, it would not have installed 41 monitoring stations across Punjab. He further stated that the current provincial government has built “one of the most transparent data-driven air quality management systems in South Asia and accessible to all citizens.”
