Toxic skies

Lahore is now the most polluted city in the world according to data released by IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company. The company’s data shows that Lahore has crossed the 400 US AQI mark which means its air quality is hazardous, the worst possible category of air quality, and that its air is around 80 times more polluted than a healthy level. US AQI is a unit that measures PM2.5 or fine particulate matter with diameters of 2.5 micrometres and smaller. PM2.5 is a health risk as it can travel into the lungs, potentially raising the risk of diseases such as lung cancer. Lahore’s air pollution woes tend to worsen as the weather gets colder. Due to the slower pace of wind in winter, the polluted air stays in the city, combining fog and pollutants from burning into deadly smog. As a result, Lahore’s AQI regularly crosses the 1000 mark every December. However, Lahore is not isolated or even atypical when it comes to toxic air pollution in the South Asia region. Delhi is ranked right behind Lahore on IQAir’s list of the most polluted cities, while Karachi ranks at number 13. In fact, according to the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) Annual Update for 2024, virtually the entire population of Pakistan breathes air that doesn’t meet its own national air quality standards.

Due to these high levels of air pollution, the AQLI report claims that if Pakistan could simply meet its own air standards it could raise people’s life expectancy by 2.3 years. Overall, air pollution is estimated to cut life expectancy by more than five years per person in South Asia. So why is this region’s air so horribly polluted? For one, the waste management systems in both the urban and rural areas of South Asia are grossly inadequate. Plastic waste and agricultural waste are often burnt in the open and are among the leading contributors to air pollution and smog. Then there is the fact that the cars and factories of the region often rely on outdated technologies that emit a high amount of toxic smoke.

While it is not as though the Punjab government is taking the smog problem lightly, it is clear that they have a lot of work to do to get Lahore’s air to breathable levels. The Chief Minister Punjab’s Roadmap for Smog Mitigation in Punjab 2024-2025 was launched earlier this month and presents a comprehensive list of sector-specific measures to counter the smog problem in Punjab. Some of the key measures being rolled out under this plan include the provision of 1000 super-seeders to the farmers in Punjab to help prevent the burning of crop residue and the launch of the Green Transport Project to introduce 5,000 electric buses across the province. It is clear from the direction of the programme that a heavy emphasis is being placed on transitioning towards cleaner and more sustainable technologies alongside taking more punitive legal measures. This is a good direction to go in and recognises the fact that many in Pakistan have no choice but to rely on polluting technologies due to financial constraints. Air pollution is as much an economic development problem as it is an environmental and regulatory issue. The fact that most Pakistanis have no choice but to burn their trash in the open and rely on bikes with old, smoke-belching engines is a reflection of the country’s inability to provide people with better alternatives. Cleaning up the nation’s air demands that this dynamic be changed.