The Lahore has been declared the most polluted city in the world when city’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) reached its highest level. Medical experts have issued instructions saying that there is a danger of spreading various diseases due to smog. They have instructed the citizens to wear masks.
To deal with smog, Punjab has decided to close traditional kilns across the province from November 7, while Zigzag technology-fired kilns will continue to run.
A high level meeting was held under the chairmanship of Punjab Chief Minister Usman Bazdar in which the steps taken to deal with smog in the province were reviewed. Usman Bazdar said that the commissioners have been given the powers of relief commissioner, smog control center has been set up in every district, focal person has been appointed in the offices of commissioners and deputy commissioners.
Usman Bazdar directed to ensure strict implementation of the ban on burning tires in factories. He said that the partnership of government and civil society is essential to ensure the elimination of smog.
The ban on burning crop residues will be strictly enforced, and steel rolling industries will be shifted to environment friendly technology.
The meeting agreed in principle to run electric rickshaws and vehicles in Punjab while it was also decided to set up biogas plants across the province.
In the city the Punjab Assembly area remained the most polluted area with an AQI of 594, in Gulberg, the AQI was recorded as 591 while the AQI in the vicinity of Mian Mir Sahib Darbar was recorded at an alarming 571.
Due to the prevailing pollution situation, flu, asthma, cough and breathing problems are being reported in the city and its adjacent areas in high numbers with the poor suffering the most. On the other hand, the MET department informed that no change is expected in the weather in the coming few days and advised citizens to prepare for cold and dry weather along with carrying masks at all times to fight the pollution.
Earlier, local authorities had suggested a proposal to generate artificial rainfall in Lahore to overcome hazardous levels of smog which has engulfed the city and other parts of the province.
The idea was floated by Lahore Commissioner Bilal Lodhi, who had sent a summary to the government advising to generate artificial rainfall to scale down “lethal levels of smog.”
Pollution is on the rise as the weather changes, with experts saying it could lead to sore throats and eye diseases. Experts have instructed citizens not to leave their homes unnecessarily, if they have to. Cover your face well, use a mask to avoid diseases caused by pollution.
Otherwise, diseases are more likely to strike, and toxic fumes from smoke-emitting vehicles and factories across the city are becoming a major cause of pollution.
Along with pollution, smog has also been described as dangerous because it causes physical disability in newborns, reduces the production of oxygen in plants, and affects living things on Earth due to climate change. But at the same time, crop yields are affected.
