Pakistan pollution: Lockdown in Lahore, Multan as smog leaves 2 mn gasping for breath; health emergency in Punjab
Punjab province in Pakistan on Friday declared a health emergency and shut down two cities due to smog.
Almost 2 million people have fallen sick as smog chokes the Punjab province, reported AP.
The health emergency was declared by Marriyum Aurangzeb, senior provincial minister, at a press conference. The minister also announced measures to tackle the growing crisis.
“Smog is currently a national disaster….It will not all be over in a month or a year. We will evaluate the situation after three days and then announce a further strategy,” Aurangzeb said.
“Schools will remain closed for another week due to the hazardous air quality. Institutes including universities would switch to online classes to ensure the safety of students,” Aurangzeb was quoted by AFP as saying.
The report said that as a measure to tackle the ongoing crisis, medical staff’s time off has been cancelled, all education institutions are closed until further notice, restaurants will be closed by 4 pm, and takeaway food will be available at 8 pm. The government has imposed a lockdown in Multan and Lahore cities, stopping construction work in these cities.
Lahore, with a population of 11 million, reported a 600 air quality index (AQI) on Friday. An AQI above 300 is regarded as harmful to health.
Smog is a byproduct of emissions from a large number of vehicles, construction and industrial activities and crop burning for agriculture, according to experts cited in the AP report.
However, Pakistan’s weather department that the quality of air will improve and the smog will be reduced in the Punjab province due to rain and wind in the coming days.
Rain likely to bring relief
The report cites Dr Muhammad Ashraf, a professor at Jinnah Hospital Lahore and Allama Iqbal Medical College, who said the government should take precautionary measures before smog becomes more severe.
“It is more of an emergency than COVID-19 because every patient is suffering from respiratory tract infections, and disease is prevailing at a mass level,” Ashraf told AP.
