'Winds don't know about the border': Pak Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz calls for 'climate diplomacy' with India to tackle pollution

As Delhi grapples with poor air quality, Pakistan Punjab’s Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday called for cooperation with India to tackle the problem of pollution that is affecting people on both sides of the border.

While stubble burning in neighbouring cities is to blame for the smog problem in the national capital, Pakistan also contributes to Delhi’s pollution. Stubble burning in Pakistani cities makes the air unbreathable for its own people apart from making it toxic in India.

Speaking at a Diwali event, Nawaz said, “We need to have diplomacy with India regarding the issue of smog in Lahore. I’m thinking of writing a letter to the Punjab Chief Minister [Bhagwant Mann] in India that this is not just a political issue, this is a humanitarian issue.”

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She added, “The winds don’t know there’s a border in the middle. Until both Punjabs come together, we won’t be able to tackle the issue of smog.”

The chief minister reiterated her call for climate diplomacy with India to mitigate the affects of pollution.

Officials blame Pak

DK Gupta, a senior official of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board in Greater Noida, put the onus on Pakistan to deal with the pollution problem.

Talking to Times of India, Gupta said, “This is the first time this year that all three cities of Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad saw ‘very poor’ air quality on the same day. And our neighbouring country – Pakistan – needs to be blamed for this. Increasing instances of stubble burning have been sending toxic smoke across the border.”

Delhi pollution

A day ahead of Diwali, air pollution increased considerably in the national capital on Wednesday with as many as eight monitoring stations recording ‘very poor’ quality air.

Delhi recorded an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of 278 at 9 am, up from 268 recorded a day earlier.

The city’s overall AQI remained in the ‘poor’ category – a marginal improvement seen from Tuesday due to favourable wind speed after several days of ‘very poor’ quality air.

On Monday, Delhi recorded an AQI of 304 and it was 359 on Sunday.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good,’ 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory,’ 101 to 200 ‘moderate,’ 201 to 300 ‘poor,’ 301 to 400 ‘very poor,’ and 401 to 500 ‘severe’.

According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board, out of the 36 monitoring stations which reported data, eight – Anand Vihar, Ashok Vihar, Aya Nagar, Bawana, Jahangirpuri, Mundka, Vivek Vihar and Wazirpur – recorded “very poor” category AQI in the morning.

With inputs from agencies