LAHORE – The Punjab government imposed a ban on the sale of Euro-2 fuel in the provincial capital, Lahore, from next month in order to tackle the worsening air pollution amid smog in the city.
Punjab Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht on Tuesday announced that only Euro-5 petroleum products will be sold in Lahore from December.
During a meeting of anti-smog committee, he has directed the city commissioner to ensure the sale of the recommended fuel.
He also instructed officials concerned to ask the producers of Euro-2 fuel to upgrade themselves.
The minister also ordered the closures of factories running without scrubbers, adding that strict action will be taken against any violation.
He said that Punjab Relief Commissioner will be responsible for transfer of brick kilns to new zigzag technology and closure of old-fashioned brick kilns.
Earlier this month, the provincial metropolis was again ranked the world’s most polluted city struggling with the worst hazardous air quality levels.
According to air pollution data released by the US Air Quality Index on Nov 12, the provincial capital recorded the hazardous particulate matter (PM) rating of 487.
The city’s Model Town showed 684 AQI, Gulberg 681, and Punjab University 532.
AQI as high as 151-200 is considered unhealthy, while an AQI between 201 to 300 is more harmful and an AQI over 300 is dubbed extremely hazardous.
According to experts, an increase witnessed in air pollution in winter, change in the wind speed, wind direction and sliding minimum temperature increases air pollution.
The air becomes heavier in the winter as compared to summer, causing poisonous particles in the atmosphere to move downwards and making the atmosphere polluted. As a result, a layer of polluted particles, including large amounts of carbon and smoke, covers a city.
The smoke produced by factories and burning coal, garbage, oil or tyres enters the atmosphere and the effects of this appear at the onset of winter and remain till the season’s end, experts said.
Thus, air pollution reaches to extremely dangerous levels, severely compromising the air quality.
As the issue of increase in the air quality index prevails, experts are instructing citizens that it is mandatory to wear masks when leaving home to avoid respiratory diseases and smog also increases with each passing.
Moreover, the government has instructed citizens to make sure to wear glasses, especially in the morning and evening hours, so that they can protect themselves from diseases such as eye stings.
