Last week Lahore capital city of Punjab once again has been declared the most polluted city due to the factor smog in the world. The smog which contain toxic chemicals (nitric oxide, Sulphur dioxide, ozone low lying) particulates released from brickkilns factories, industries, crops waste burning and malfunctioning engine of the vehicles.
Keeping in view the high air quality index the Govt of Punjab has declared an emergency and has planned artificial rains to mitigate the impact of the smog which has reached AQI 756, we have observed that such experiments did not bring the situation under control in the last winter.
Air pollution, it seems, has become a public health emergency in Pakistan. It has been estimated that over 128,000 deaths occur in Pakistan due to air pollution illnesses.23-Apr-2024.
The disease surveillance data shows that out of approximately 12000 pneumonia cases between Nov 2023- Feb 2024, some 545 people died. Experts categorically blamed the environmental air pollution, foggy weather, freezing cold weather and disrupted gas supply to the homes.
The huge influx of sick patients who were suffering from Asthma, Bronchitis and Pneumonia in Lahore and other affected districts later caused the health authority to declare an emergency in the hospitals.
The number of people killed in road traffic accidents is several hundred due to the smog however the exact number data is not available with the authorities.
The ad hoc policy by the successive civilian governments did not address the catastrophic environmental issue which has a detrimental effect on people health especially respiratory tract disorders like Asthma, Bronchitis and Pneumonia in children and elderly people.
This nascent policy document Smog Action Plan has yet to be fully implemented to end the burning of crops by the farmers, close brick kilns factories, reduce toxic gases being emitted from the industries and correct malfunction vehicle engines respectively.
This smog environmental challenge has been affecting Indian capital Delhi, too. It has been declared the second most polluted city in the world its challenges and reasons are more or less the same, both countries did not show seriousness to resolve this menace which has been prevailing for years.
Since both India and Pakistan are affected by the smog, it is about time for them to evolve a collaborative framework to counter and minimize emissions of all sorts including the crop burning, strategy for brick kilns and strict checks on the industry – the main sources of pollution that eventually becomes smog.
