t seems, dear readers, that Pakistan has to endure an annual plague in the form of thick, unbreathable air full of dust and toxins. This blanket of smog turns our most active cities into virtual gas chambers. The yearly calamity isn’t just bad luck; it’s a product of ignorance, negligence and the administration’s failure to act. It is as if they view polluted air as a minor inconvenience that the people will eventually learn to live with.

Every year as winter approaches, cities like Lahore and Multan are swallowed by a layer of smog so thick that sunlight struggles to break through. People walk through the streets as if in a nightmare, their eyes watering and their throats raw. Complaints of breathing problems shoot up and emergency rooms in the hospitals overflow. Schools are forced to close or shift to online classes — not because of some deadly virus, but because the very air is toxic, polluted by unchecked factory emissions, vehicle smoke and the seasonal burning of crop leftovers. The power elite, relatively safe in their purified-air offices and homes, have shown little urgency to fix the problem.

Imagine a wealthy individual surveying their lands from their luxurious home. Below them, ordinary people choke and cough, young children and elderly people falling sick as their lungs struggle with the filthy air. But why should this person care? They have secured their safety by........

© The News on Sunday