Pakistan, Sept. 3 -- Lahore entered September with anti-littering squads fanning out across 200 markets and major roads. For now, offenders receive warnings, but from October 1, dropping rubbish in public can bring fines of up to Rs 10,000, while burning waste or tyres can cost as much as Rs 500,000 and, in serious cases, carry imprisonment. Field officers have been barred from receiving cash. For a city that has spent decades complaining about rubbish, the government is finally attaching a price to producing it.

Punjab has earned some standing to become demanding. Suthra Punjab has taken organised collection into towns and villages where municipal sanitation barely existed, backed by enormous public spending, a large vehicle fleet and d...