It is very unfortunate that our country is exposed to all effects of Climate Change ranging from heatwaves, drought to floods and now smog. The changing weather patterns and abnormal rains and extreme temperatures are badly affecting our lives and entire infrastructure. 

Our mega cities are also bearing the brunt of the situation. The heatwaves in Karachi in recent years and the smog in Lahore are to name a few. What is more disrobing is that the issues are becoming gravers with the passage of time. For instance, Lahore, which reached the hazardo;u;s level of air pollution  in January this year,  usually faces the hazards of smog after the advent of winter.

But this year, the dense smog is surrounding the city before the arrival of real winter. Lahore is having pleasant weather these days and the temperature usually rangers between 27 to 28 which means that cold is yet to arrive but smog has already started engulfing the city. Every morning the dark sheets of smog can be seen on the horizons which mean that the situation will be extreme once the winter months start. 

This is not a good omen as Lahore residents fact a lot of hardships due smog due to which they not only develop chest and lung diseases but their livelihood and economic activities are also suffered badly. The irony is that it has become an yearly activity in Lahore every winter.

The choking hazard, with the smell of smog, reaches an alarming level and health practitioners start advising the citizens to use masks to avoid health hazards air pollution that is seeping into homes in and around the capital city.   

While the well-do-people buy air purifiers every winter, the low income people are at greater risk as they cannot afford the safety measures. Children and the elderly at greater risk and doctors usually advise them to stay indoors at critical hours when smog is at its peak.

To be very specific, it is a sort of horrible air pollution which turns into public health emergency in winter  in  Punjab , particularly the Lahore city, which is experiencing this menace since 2011 but despite the a decade of sufferings by the people, the successive Governments have miserably failed to  form a strategy to avert this yearly crisis.

As winter approaches, the citizens of Lahore become more vulnerable to respiratory ailments and chest infections. Since we have a full-fledged Climate Ministry, so we need clear cut policies and comprehensive strategies on how to work to fight out the smoggy dangers along with other climate change effects. According to air pollution data released by the US Air Quality Index, Lahore is on top of the list of most polluted cities in the world with the worst harmful air quality levels. Even India's Delhi and Kolkata come after Pakistan and a placed at third and fourth while Karachi is the fifth city Lahore showed a particulate matter (PM) rating of over 300 due to which the city in included in the "hazardous" category of air quality. Different areas of Lahore fared worse. 

The Kot Lakhpat (industrial area) crossed over 400, with Fatehgarh housing most of the steel melting industry, and other areas near 400 AQI. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) instead of doing something concrete to mitigate the sufferings of Lahori's only releases a monthly report about its steps to control smog every year.  

And its activities as seen from its last few years reports are just to collect Rs38 million fine from different sectors which is not a solution.   

The Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) and other related organizations also need to form a comprehensive strategy in this hazardous matter.  

Such smog has also been impacting the economy of the affected region but there is a need for climate activism from the civil society too, which has not been as proactive in Pakistan as it should have been. Experts say that Air pollution has worsened in the country in recent years due to a number of factors including a mixture of low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from industrial units crop burn off, and colder winter temperatures coalesce into stagnant clouds of smog. Besides, India is also responsible for smog menace in Lahore as the India burning of fuels, smoke from vehicular and plants emissions, explosive material used near Pakistan border by India, burning of rice stubbles that send smog across the border to Lahore. It has also been noticed that after Diwali, Lahore experiences greater hazards smog every year.  

The purpose to say is that smog is not a natural phenomenon but a man-made hazard and it needs multiple strategies at national and regional levels to control it. Though the successive governments have been making hue and cry over climate change effects and are also introducing some measures for environmental conservation, but the problem is unprecedented and international help is required to combat the climate change effects in Pakistan. 

As a matter climate change effects in the forms of heatwaves, floods and smog are creating more perils for the economy and for the citizens who are facing a lot of difficulties in performing their routine tasks.  

The smog menace has become an annual issue and one may advise those at the helm of affairs to set up a special commission or tribunal to investigate the grave issue and come up with urgent actions on war footing level.  It has been noticed that some industries are opening violating the environmental regulations such as brick kiln factories and the burning of stubble in fields in Punjab.  

Not only the air level is hazardous in Punjab, the riverbeds and surrounding spots are also polluted due to which the wetlands have destroyed and greenery is vanishing slowly and steadily with the passage of time. 

Published in The Daily National Courier, October, 26 2022

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