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05-11-2024
Bureau Report
LAHORE: Pakistan’s second-largest city of Lahore will close primary schools for a week after it saw “unprecedented” pollution levels, government authorities have said.
For days, the city of 14 million people has been enveloped by smog, a mix of fog and pollutants caused by low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal agricultural burning and winter cooling.
The air quality index, which measures a range of pollutants, exceeded 1,000 on Saturday well above the level of 300 considered “dangerous” according to data from IQAir.
The Punjab government also recorded peaks of over 1,000 on Sunday, which it said was “unprecedented”.
“Weather forecast for the next six days shows that wind patterns will remain the same. Therefore we are closing all government and private primary schools in Lahore for a week,” Jahangir Anwar, a senior environmental protection official in Lahore, told media.
“This smog is very harmful for children. Masks should be mandatory in schools. We are keeping an eye on the health of children in senior classes,” Punjab senior minister Marriyum Aurangzeb told a news conference on Sunday.
Smog counters have been established in hospitals, she added.
Breathing the toxic air can have catastrophic health consequences, with the World Health Organization (WHO) saying that strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases can be triggered by prolonged exposure.
On Saturday, the concentration of deadly PM2.5 pollutants fine particulate matter in the air that causes the most damage to health was more than 40 times the level deemed acceptable by the WHO. PM2.5 levels on Sunday morning exceeded that before decreasing slightly.
Last week, the provincial environmental protection agency announced new restrictions in four “hot spots” in the city.
Tuk-tuks equipped with polluting two-stroke engines are banned, as are restaurants that barbecue without filters.
Government offices and private companies will have half their staff work from home starting Monday.
Children are particularly vulnerable because they have less developed lungs and breathe more rapidly, taking in more air relative to their size than adults.
Last month, authorities banned schoolchildren from outdoor exercise until January and adjusted school hours to prevent children from travelling when the pollution is most punishing.
Pollution in excess of levels deemed safe by the WHO shortens the life expectancy of Lahore residents by an average of 7.5 years, according to the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute.
Last year, artificial rain has been used for the first time in Pakistan in a bid to combat hazardous levels of pollution in the megacity of Lahore, says the provincial government.
Planes equipped with cloud-seeding equipment flew on Saturday over the eastern city, often ranked one of the worst places globally for air pollution.
“It drizzled in at least 10 areas of Lahore,” caretaker chief minister of Punjab, Mohsin Naqvi, told reporters, adding that the authorities were monitoring the impact of artificial rain in a radius of 15km (nine miles). Air quality in Lahore has been particularly bad in the last few weeks and the Punjab government employed several tactics including the early closure of businesses and keeping schools off for two extra days to help improve the air quality but nothing worked.
