Pakistan: Pollution forces closures of businesses, schools in Lahore

This week in Pakistan’s most populous province, authorities were forced to close schools and markets due to heavy pollution-fueled smog. This included the eastern city of Lahore, which has become one of the worst cities in the world for hazardous air quality. Punjab, home to more than 110 million people, has an information minister named Amir Mir. “The government has decided to close down markets for four days from 9 to 12 November in the major cities of Punjab because of smog on the advisory of the health department,” Mir stated. As per the provincial government’s directive, establishments such as schools, offices, restaurants, and pharmacies would close, while priority services like courts, hospitals, and pharmacies would remain open to limit residents’ outdoor mobility. In the provincial capital of Lahore, air quality was the worst in the world on Wednesday according to Swiss group IQAir, with the air quality index at a “hazardous” 432, followed by India’s capital Delhi at 302 and the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi at 204. Growing industrialisation in South Asia in recent decades has fuelled growing pollutants emanating from factories, construction activity and vehicles in densely populated areas. The problem becomes more severe in cooler autumn and winter months, as temperature inversion prevents a layer of warm air from rising and traps pollutants closer to the ground. Heavy smog blanketed Lahore this week, reducing visibility and leading residents to complain of a threat to their health. According to a report released in August that highlighted the growing burden of hazardous air on health, rising air pollution in South Asia, one of the most polluted regions of the world, can reduce life expectancy by more than five years per person. Authorities in Delhi, India’s neighbour, have declared that they will prohibit the use of automobiles starting next week in an effort to reduce the city’s increasing pollution levels. Despite mitigation measures, the capital’s air quality is still extremely dangerous. (With agency inputs)