As Lahore chokes on winter smog, Pakistan moves to cut air pollution

(Reuters, 7 Jan 2019) Efforts to crack down on pollution from agricultural burning, dirty factories, brick kilns and vehicles are underway.

At his house on busy Mall Road in Lahore, environmental lawyer Rafay Alam runs three air purifiers around the clock, keeps his windows shut and stuffs towels into the gaps under his doors.

Some winter days, when the city's smog is particularly bad, "I don't send my daughter to school," he admits. "I am not going to risk permanent damage to her lungs."

Pakistan's second-largest city is choking on smog, driven in part by smoke from bricks kiln and steel mills, burning of rice stubble and garbage, growing numbers of vehicles on the road and large-scale losses of trees as the expanding city makes way for new roads and buildings, residents say.

Many in the city of 11 million complain of headaches and burning eyes and throats as air pollution levels this winter have on some days hit five times the legal limit, according to a global air quality index that many in Lahore check via the AirVisual phone app.

Alam thinks it's time for the government to declare a public health emergency on the worst days, when the air is full of dust and pollutants that can cause health issues including asthma, lung damage, bronchial infections and heart problems.

"The air pollution in Lahore is bad throughout the year, but in the winter there is temperature inversion where a layer of warm air is prevented from rising and it traps all the pollutants below it, which renders them visible," he said.

External link

Reuters, 7 Jan 2019: As Lahore chokes on winter smog, Pakistan moves to cut air pollution