LAHORE: Environment experts fear that the high level of air pollutants present in the atmosphere of the provincial capital will lead to smog, similar to that experienced by Lahore and other parts of the Punjab province last year. But the authorities concerned have failed to take any steps to reduce the chances of smog this year.
Last year in November, the provincial metropolis and other cities of the province had the first ever encounter with toxic smog which badly disrupted vehicular and pedestrian traffic on roads, thus, leading to road accidents. In the aftermath of the smog, many citizens residing in the province had suffered from ailments such as irritation in eyes and various throat infections.
At that time, many experts believed that the smog was caused due to high levels of air pollutants coupled with a delay in seasonal rains, while many others had informed that the phenomenon was caused by the burning of crops across the border in Indian Punjab.
In the past, Beijing and New Delhi were considered to be Asia’s most polluted cities. Unfortunately, the occurrence of smog in Lahore had also added the city to that list as people were being directed by the officials concerned to wear protective masks to avoid developing respiratory problems.
However, after the unusual experience, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif formed a special committee to examine the weather conditions and the reasons behind the dense smog. On the other hand, a large number of petitions have also been filed in the court accusing the authorities for not taking timely measures to control air pollution in the city.
Local experts have time and again informed through different studies that smog was being caused by increasing air pollutants, emissions from motor vehicles, changes in weather pattern, and dust from ongoing construction projects in the provincial metropolis.
To prevent the occurrence of smog, officials belonging to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claimed that advisories had been sent to different stakeholders and departments concerned to carefully monitor the air quality.
However, sources in the EPA claimed that air quality of the provincial metropolis had become extremely dangerous in the last decade, while informing that no data regarding air quality had been collected by the EPA in the last three years. They said that new machinery was procured by the EPA this year to monitor air quality, but were not being commissioned yet.
The University of the Punjab Environmental College Principal Dr Sajid Rashid, while talking to Pakistan Today, said that it was very hard to control smog in the presence of persistent vehicular pollution, industrial emissions and dust particles which have completely engulfed the city. He said that countries like China and India were facing similar problems for many years, but they have established a proper mechanism to monitor air quality and issue public warnings in the event of smog. Dr Rashid regretted the laxity shown by the EPA and said that it was the agency’s prime duty to monitor air quality and then issue warnings to alert citizens about smog.
Talking to Pakistan Today, the Pakistan Meteorological Department Director General Dr Ghulam Rasool said that the Met department was unable to predict the smog in the absence of the required equipment. He said that it was the EPA’s duty to provide the data regarding air quality, but the Met department had yet to receive such data for the current year.
Meanwhile, EPA spokesman Naseem-ur-Rehman Shah claimed that sufficient steps had been taken to prevent the occurrence of smog in the province. Talking to Pakistan Today, he said that the department had written to the Punjab Home Department to impose section 144 on burning of rice husk to control air pollution. He further said that several factors were involved in last year’s smog, but this year the department had taken different stakeholders on-board to address this issue. He further said that, “The EPA has sealed different mills that were violating the standards set to maintain clean air quality in the province, while it has also sent notices to other industries to make an effort to reduce air pollution.”
