Pakistan, Oct. 2 -- Punjab's Environment Protection deserves credit for sending night squads and drones after pollution sources before the onset of smog season. In 24 hours, inspectors checked 431 brick kilns, demolished five, sealed nine and registered nine FIRs. Another 269 industrial units were inspected, with 11 sealed. Drone surveillance is also being used to locate stubble-burning hotspots along motorway corridors so enforcement teams can reach them quickly. For a province that has too often found itself reacting after the haze has settled in, preventive action is a welcome shift.

The night patrols are particularly sensible. Environmental enforcement that ends with office hours leaves an obvious opening for kilns, factories and was...