ISLAMABAD: A very high percentage of pollution in India is polluting Lahore, the capital city of Punjab province.
This startling disclosure had been made in a joint report of NUST University and Bahauddin Zakariya University. Both the varsities carried out research about pollution in Lahore and its causes and then held India responsible for this climatic trouble in Lahore.
According to report, the polluted air coming from India formed the toxic smog in Lahore. The report said the city’s air was not clean for a single day during 2020, therefore, the number of asthma and heart patients has increased in the capital city of the Punjab province.
Report said, Pakistan took up the matter with India but did not get any response from the neighbouring country. Without any credible intervention from India, Punjab government will not be able to tackle the pollution problem in Lahore.
The report suggested that the SAARC conference could work on air pollution in Asia. Lahore has been battling the worst air pollution for four years in the winter. In 2021, the city ranked 1 globally for the most polluted city. The AQI crossed 700 which is most hazardous.
The last time smog levels in Lahore sky-rocketed was in the winter of 2016-2017. A New York Times report says that dangerous particles in the air, called PM2.5, reached 1,077 microgrammes per cubic meter. This is 30 times more than what is considered the safe limit. Experts said the pollution had reached a “crisis point”. Importantly, smog is developed by a mixture of pollutants and water vapor in the atmosphere. It causes health problems such as asthma, flu, coughing, allergies, bronchial infections, and heart problems.
Prolonged exposure to environmental pollution also results in shortened life expectancy. These risks may be reduced by wearing masks, managing gaseous vehicular emissions, using eco-friendly products, and reusing and recycling.
