Court orders three-day closure of schools in Lahore to cut smog

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) has ordered schools to remain shut for three days in Lahore in the hope that a long weekend will help reduce toxic levels of air pollution in the nation’s second-largest smog-hit city.

Air quality is usually the poorest in Lahore’s winter months of December and January.

Every year, a combination of industrial pollution, burning waste and farm fires in neighbouring India fouls the air in the city, making it one of the world’s most polluted cities. The hazardous pollutants across its skyline cause residents respiratory difficulties, eye irritation, and cardiac complications, among other ailments.

The latest move comes a day after the chief minister of Punjab said his government, in order to ease pollution, will provide farmers with a modern harvester to destroy crop residues, and ensure the transfer of all brick kilns to zigzag technology.

Shortly after noon on Wednesday, the Air Quality Index (AQI) from a monitoring station at the United States’ consulate in the provincial capital hit 212, out of a possible 500, a level considered “very unhealthy”. The reading, however, came down from “hazardous” 355 recorded on Monday where even healthy people are advised to stay indoors.

According to the notification submitted to the court, schools will remain closed on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until further orders.

Solutions to address the root causes of air pollution are slowly appearing, observers argue. A day earlier, Punjab im­­posed an environmental emer­gency in parts of the province, particularly in Lahore.

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the chief minister, ordered the effective implementation of a plan designed to reduce smog in the province and said that action should be taken to control the factors that caused it.

The province has instituted a number of emergency measures to mitigate pollution, such as banning the burning of agricultural waste and closing steel mill factories.

The most effective solution may be to cut the number of cars on the road. “The government is creating awareness to reduce traffic load,” noted Muhammad Ali, a resident of the Gulberg neighbourhood “People should know how much we are contributing to creating environmental pollution.”

The lack of public transport in Lahore is a barrier to reducing the number of cars on the road. The overwhelmed network, including the Orange Line Metro project, has ambitions to dramatically increase public transport in the city by serving a quarter million passengers per day, alleviating some of the traffic congestion on the road.

Without interventions, experts predict that Pakistan’s air pollution may worsen in the coming years. Increased motorisation, poor public health warning systems, and unchecked industrial pollution are exposing larger swathes of the population to health risks.

The government has mostly relied on the PTV state broadcaster to disseminate warnings about hazardous smog, instructing residents to minimise exposure to outdoor air, wear face masks, and keep children inside.

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