OVER the past many years, smog in Lahore has been a persistent challenge. The city regularly tops the charts for the worst air quality as soon as the winter arrives.
Even when the citizens of Lahore accepted hazardous air as their fait accompli, this year, pollution reached new peaks.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) has crossed 1,000 for the first time since the monitoring of smog started. On Sunday, the maximum AQI was 1,173.
According to the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI), the pollution of PM2.5 — fine particulate matter in the air that causes the most damage to health — pollution increased by 25 per cent in 2024 compared to 2023. The average pollution level also went up by 23pc compared to last year.
Experts say poor air quality ‘not a seasonal issue’; call for holistic reforms, including cleaner fuels, checking emissions, legal reforms, policy continuity
Even in the face of the challenge of catastrophic proportions, experts say the government’s actions of enforcing ‘green lockdown’ and declaring smog a ‘calamity’ are inadequate.
Under the ‘green lockdown’, 11 pollution hotspots around Shimla Hill were identified, and construction activities, running commercial generators, motorcycle rickshaws, and open barbecue activities were banned after 8pm.
Abid Omar, the founder of PAQI, says similar prohibitions have been imposed in the past, sometimes on brick kilns and........