Air pollution in Pakistan reaches record levels
Worsening air pollution has persisted for over two weeks in the Pakistani province of Punjab. The regional government has introduced emergency measures, including prolonged school closures and compulsory face masks.
Record pollution
In the streets of Lahore, Pakistan's second-largest city, persistent smog stings the eyes and burns the throat. Home to more than 13 million inhabitants and many factories, Lahore sits on the border with India is regularly one of the most polluted cities in the world. This month, however, pollution has hit record levels.
Toxic clouds
A toxic mixture of low-grade fuel emissions from factories and vehicles, exacerbated by the burning of stubble agricultural fields, blankets the city every winter, trapped by cooler temperatures and slow-moving winds.
Shuttered schools
Schools in the four largest cities in Punjab province, including in the capital, Lahore, will remain closed until mid-November. The goal is to reduce the exposure of children to the air pollution, especially on their way to and from school, when pollution levels are often highest.
Masks compulsory
"The children are constantly coughing, they have constant allergies. In schools we saw that most of the children were falling sick," said Rafia Iqbal, a primary school teacher in a town on the border with India. According to the international air quality index scale, an index value of 300 or higher is considered "hazardous to health." Pakistan regularly reaches values of over 1,000 on the scale.
Rickshaws, barbecues banned
Access to parks, zoos, playgrounds, historical monuments, museums and recreational areas has been banned until at least November 17. Rickshaws with polluting two-stroke engines and restaurants that operate barbecues without filters have been banned in city "hot spots."
Dangerous health effects
According to the World Health Organization, air pollution can cause strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and other respiratory diseases. Children, babies and the elderly are particularly at risk. Special smog counters have been set up in clinics across the province to triage patients. In Lahore alone, 900 people were hospitalized on Tuesday.
Anti-smog cannons fail to clean the air
In 2023, the Punjab regional government tested artificial rain to combat the smog. In recent days, trucks have sprayed the streets with water cannons, but so far haven't seen success. For days, the concentration of polluting micro-particles PM2.5 in Punjab has been dozens of times above the level considered tolerable by the World Health Organization.