Pollution hits record levels in Pakistan city | Global News Avenue

The smoke starts slowly.

At first, you can’t see it, but you can smell it. It smells like something is burning. This condition intensifies as temperatures drop.

Then the smoke starts to cover you and the city around you. Now you can see it. You are walking through smoke, with a thick ceiling hanging above your head.

If you don’t wear a mask, or if you put the mask down for a while, you will immediately inhale the bitter air.

Your throat may start to feel itchy and sore. As things get worse, you start sneezing and coughing. But it’s worse for others: children, the elderly, people who have trouble breathing. The hospital knew there would be an influx of people.

Lahore and its 13 million residents have been suffocating for a week; the air quality index has breached the 1,000 mark several times this month – anything above 300 is considered hazardous.

Pakistani officials are scrambling to deal with the crisis – a scale unprecedented even in cities that suffer from smog this time of year.

Schools were closed, workers were told to stay home and people were urged to stay indoors – part of the so-called “green lockdown”, which also banned the parking of motorcycle rickshaws, heavy vehicles and motorcycles in hotspots.

By the end of this week, the Lahore High Court has ordered all markets in Punjab to close at 20:00 every night and to be completely closed on Sundays. Parks and zoos have also been closed until November 17.

The problem is that pollution levels in the city “usually peak in late November and December,” said Pawan Gupta, a NASA scientist.

“So this is just the beginning. The worst pollution days may still be ahead,” he warned.

The smog covering Lahore in Pakistan’s Punjab province can be seen from space – and that’s part of the reason.

NASA satellite images show thick smoke and multiple concentrated fires in the area between the Indian capital Delhi and Lahore, Pakistan.

The same image from six weeks ago shows clear skies and, most importantly, far fewer fires.

A major cause of the smog is fires caused by farmers in Pakistan and India burning stubble after harvest, a quick way to clear fields in preparation for the next crop.

Hiren Jethva, a senior research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and Morgan State University, said NASA expects “15,500 to 18,500 fires” this year, a higher number than in previous years.

According to Pakistan’s environmental protection department, about 30% of Lahore’s smog comes from India across the border. The Indian government this year doubled fines on farmers who burn stubble to address the problem.

But much of Lahore’s air pollution comes from the exhaust from five million motorcycles and millions of other vehicles. On Friday, the Lahore High Court found traffic congestion to be the main cause of the smog, Pakistan Associated Press reported.

In addition, industries on the outskirts of cities – such as coal-fired brick kilns – add more pollution to the air.

This all combined with cold air blowing in from Tibet in the final months of the year to create the smog that currently hangs over the city.

It’s clear that toxic air is making people sick.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Air Quality Index (AQI), a value of 50 or below indicates good air quality, while a value above 300 indicates hazardous air quality.

World Health Organization guidelines state that the average concentration of PM2.5 should be below 5.

Abid Omar, founder of the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative, which collects data from 143 air quality monitors across the country, said Lahore’s readings “exceeded the index every day in November”.

“Some locations in Lahore have crossed 1,000,” he said, adding: “Our AQI reading on Thursday was 1,917.”

It was widely reported that as of Tuesday, 900 people had been admitted to hospitals in Lahore suffering from breathing difficulties.

“More and more people are coming in with asthma, scratchy throat and cough,” said Dr. Irfan Malik, a pulmonologist at one of Lahore’s largest hospitals.

He has seen a surge in patients complaining of respiratory illnesses – “particularly concerning because we haven’t seen the first cold wave of winter yet”.

Lahore resident Sadiya Kashif has been worried about this danger.

“Like every mother, I want to see my children running and playing without worrying about pollution,” she told the BBC.

“I see my children struggling with coughs and breathing issues these days, a painful reminder of how toxic our air has become.”

But the current “green lockdown” has left her indifferent.

“It is easy for governments to close schools rather than take real steps to address the crisis,” Kashif said.

For years, authorities have been trying to find solutions to Lahore’s pollution problem.

The government hopes short-term fixes will ease the woes but says long-term solutions such as improving public transport will take time.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz announced this week that she intends to write to the chief ministers of the Indian state of Punjab to invite them to engage in “climate diplomacy” as it has implications for both regions. New Delhi said it had not received Pakistan’s comments on the matter.

However, Omar noted that air pollution is not a seasonal problem but an ongoing one.

“Lahore is much more polluted than Delhi, with pollution episodes lasting longer and reaching higher peaks,” he noted.

He believes things are getting worse. According to his own data analysis, pollution levels rose 25% in October compared with the same period last year.

He believes governments on both sides of the border need to act quickly to address the issue.

“The road map to clean air is clear, but current policies in India and Pakistan are insufficient to significantly reduce pollution.”

That makes him skeptical of changes in the near future.

“I tell people that blue skies are a sign of good governance,” Omar said.