Daily Times

For the past few years, Lahore, the second largest and one of the most populous cities of Pakistan becomes a smoker’s lounge at this time of year. With the minimum Air Quality index of 172 and the maximum Air Quality Index of 500(approx.), Lahore had been ranked world’s second most polluted city in the past month.

If no action is taken, Lahore will soon dethrone Delhi and become the most polluted city of the world. Experts claim that breathing in Lahore’s air is like breathing in poison and if the exposure to this poisonous air is prolonged, it would cause serious health problems to the people of Lahore.

Smog has engulfed the city for the past few days which has reduced visibility and caused difficulty in breathing, itching in eyes and many more health issues in people. The government of Punjab had closed all of the private and government schools on Friday but giving a single holiday in schools is not going to help because the people of Lahore are still being subjected to this poisonous air even when they’re staying inside.

Therefore, a meeting was arranged between the DG environment and all the provincial DCs and ACs in Lahore to take effective measures to deal with this smog situation in Lahore. After observing the reduction in the AQI of Lahore’s air, on Thursday and Friday, because of rainfall. These officials have decided to use the concept of artificial rain to decrease the smog level in Lahore. The Commissioners said that there are 12 environmental teams working on the reduction of smog.

A public health emergency should be declared in the city and immediate measures must be taken by the government all over the country to reduce air pollution but the federal government hadn’t done anything to deal with this environmental crisis yet. Prime Minister Imran Khan, during his speech in United Nations General Assembly, had highlighted the urgency of the matter of climate change and environmental pollution. But he himself hasn’t taken any actions or issued any statement about Lahore being the second most polluted city yet, which has disappointed a huge number of his followers all around the country.

The throat-burning, eye-stinging, and smoke plaguing Lahore is affecting the health of more than 11 million people. Many countries like the United States have created laws to reduce smog. Some laws include restrictions on what chemicals a factory can release into the atmosphere, or when the factory can release them. Some communities have “burn days” when residents can burn waste such as leaves in their yard.

These limits on chemicals released into the air reduce the amount of smog. All the vehicles in Lahore should be run on environmentally friendly fuel. Public transport should be made efficient so that people travel on them instead of traveling on their personal vehicles.

Trees should be planted everywhere on a very large scale. If we don’t take these actions now, this polluted air in Lahore would cause an environmental catastrophe affecting every single individual living in it.