Lahore sees sharp rise in pollution
lahore — A thick blanket of smog enveloped country’s cultural capital of Lahore on Wednesday, prompting officials to warn that tens of thousands of the city’s residents risk respiratory disease and eye-related problems while doctors urged people to stay at home.
The air quality in Lahore deteriorated to hazardous levels, putting an additional burden on the fragile healthcare system amid a surge in coronavirus deaths and new infections. The Air Quality Index at one point rose to 750 in the city’s poorer areas — about 12 times the recommended level.
Earlier in the day, Switzerland-based air quality information platform IQair declared Lahore the second most polluted city, after New Delhi, India’s capital. Pollution indexes peak dramatically in Pakistan in winter, when farmers burn off stubble in the fields. Winds worsen the pollution by further spreading smog across the region.
“The air quality level was hazardous today,” said Sajid Bashir, a spokesman for Environmental Protection Department.
By mid-day the situation had improved, he said, as authorities took steps to keep smoke emitting vehicles off the roads and shut brick kilns across the province of Punjab.
Lahore remained pollution-free for months after March, when the government imposed a lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus. But after the restriction was lifted in May, the air quality gradually deteriorated, falling again to unhealthy levels.