As smog again settles over large parts of South Asia, Pakistani authorities are widening a crackdown on illegal stubble burning they say is fueling the region's annual pollution crisis. On Thursday, officers of a new quick-response unit swung off their vehicles at a paddy field on the edge of Lahore, where the crew had a fire under control within minutes, keeping it from adding to a haze over a city that Swiss group IQAir rated "very unhealthy" earlier this week.

Farmers in the region commonly set leftover rice residue alight after the October harvest, adding to a toxic mix of industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust and construction dust that lingers under cold winter air and drives pollution to hazardous levels. The unit is the first of its kind in Pakistan dedicated to fighting pollution, officials say, and it is one of the most visible steps in a campaign that Punjab officials claim is working. Satellites have detected less burned area in India and Pakistan than the historical average at this point in the year, even as many locals in Pakistan say they struggle to notice improvements.S1S2

Silwat Saeed, chief of the Environment Protection and Climate Change Department in Pakistan's Punjab, said the government this year formed a 750-member force in 67 rapid-response units across major rice-growing districts, with teams aiming to reach reported field fires within 10 to 15 minutes. Ashfaq Hussain, a deputy director of the force, said complaints can be lodged through multiple channels and officials also patrol paddy areas. In a single 24-hour period this week, the department received 679 field fire reports from across Punjab and said it extinguished 650 of them.S1S2

Violators face fines, arrest or both. Farmers caught burning stubble face fines of 15,000 Pakistani rupees ($54) per acre, said Muhammad Farooq, an assistant director of the Punjab Agriculture Department, and those who fail to pay can face prosecution and a possible jail term of up to six months. The government has also distributed more than 10,000 subsidized super seeders, paying 60% of their cost while farmers pay the remaining 40%.S1S2

Farmer Muhammad Ismail, who farms 50 acres, said switching to a subsidized super seeder and other machinery had significantly boosted his wheat yield per acre, but adoption is far from universal. Saleem Abbas, another local farmer who has shifted away from stubble burning, said many still favour the practice because it is widely regarded as the cheapest and fastest way to clear fields for the next crop. Saeed said the challenge is huge for both Pakistan and India, and that Pakistan has raised it with Indian officials at international forums, though India's foreign ministry did not respond.S1S2