Daily Times

Air pollution in Pakistan’s second biggest city Lahore soared on Saturday more than 80 times over the level deemed acceptable by the World Health Organization (WHO), with an official calling it record high.

The level of deadly PM2.5 pollutants-fine particulate matter in the air that causes the most damage to health-peaked at 1,067 before dropping to around 300 in the morning. The WHO considers anything above 10 unhealthy.

“We have never reached a level of 1,000,” Jahangir Anwar, a senior environmental protection official in Lahore told AFP.

For days, Lahore 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 will remain high for the next three to four days,” Anwar said.

On Wednesday, 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 from Monday. Construction work has been halted and street and food vendors, who often cook over open fires, must close at 8 pm.

Smog is particularly pronounced in winter, when cold, denser air traps emissions from poor-quality fuels used to power the city’s vehicles and factories at ground level.

On Wednesday, while addressing a Diwali event in Lahore, Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz said that Pakistan and India should join hands to tackle the worsening issue of smog on both sides of the border.

“We need to have climate diplomacy with India regarding the issue of smog in Lahore. I’m thinking of writing a letter to the Chief Minister of Indian Punjab in this regard as this is not political, but a humanitarian issue,” she said.

“And if we’re also taking steps towards this, then there should be a matching response from the Indian side,” Maryam stressed. She remarked that the people and environment on both sides of the border will benefit from this diplomacy. “Until both Punjabs work together, we won’t be able to tackle the issue of smog,” she said.