ISLAMABAD/AMRITSAR: Lahore continued to suffocate under dangerous air pollution for the second day in a row, with the Pakistani city becoming the second most polluted city in the world as of 8:30 pm IST on Monday, according to IQAir, an international pollution monitoring website, with Delhi topping the chart. The provincial government of Punjab in Pakistan blamed the problem on polluted winds from India.
A day earlier, Lahore was the most polluted city in the world, recording pollution levels well above the “dangerous” mark of 300.
The government’s efforts to reduce pollution in Lahore failed and thick smog hung over the city on Monday.
Experts attribute Lahore’s unprecedented air pollution to crop burning, vehicle emissions, industrial emissions and winter cooling.
The deteriorating air quality index (AQI) has prompted authorities to close schools and ban heavy transport vehicles from entering the city on Fridays and Sundays. Construction has stopped and the government has ordered street and food vendors to close their shops by 8 p.m.
Marriyum Aurangzeb, a minister in Pakistan’s Punjab government, blamed winds from Amritsar and Chandigarh for deteriorating air quality in Lahore. Addressing a press conference, she said that the AQI of Lahore skyrocketed due to high wind speed and entered Pakistan from India. “With the change in wind direction and speed, Lahore’s AQI is now around 500,” she claimed.
Marriyum, who holds several portfolios in the provincial government of Pakistan’s Punjab including environmental protection and climate change, also claimed that the AQI in central Lahore was 1,067 on Saturday and with the change in wind direction it again dropped to 200 and fluctuated between 180 and 200 on Saturday after 1 p.m.
She said smog cannot be tackled without dialogue with India. “We cannot stop or divert Indian air. The only solution is dialogue,” she said. Effective measures to curb the problem require cooperation between governments on both sides of the border, she added.