Punjab’s AQI crisis

The Punjab government routinely issues daily statements on the status of the smog in Lahore through various representatives, including politicians and provincial bureaucrats.

These statements frequently contradict air quality indexes measured by independent sources and offer assorted reasons for the persistent smog in Lahore. According to these representatives, the primary sources of pollution and smog include industrial emissions from India, stubble burning by farmers in districts bordering Lahore, emissions from the millions of vehicles crowding the roads, construction activities, open-air barbecues, running of commercial generators, brick kilns, and industrial operations within Lahore itself.

On Sunday, November 3, Lahore’s Air Quality Index (AQI) hit a peak of 1173. According to the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI), PM2.5 pollution – fine particulate matter most harmful to human health – increased by 25 per cent in 2024 compared to the previous year. While there may be some truth to the government's reasons for smog, if the Punjab administration were genuinely committed to addressing pollution, they would first examine the glaring governance issues within the Punjab Environment Protection and Climate Change Department.

To the department, I pose a simple question: can they name any city, town, or even a remote village in Punjab where the AQI meets the WHO’s health standards? Decades ago, my hometown, Kamar Mushani, located in the last tehsil of Punjab, Essa Khel, bordering Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the Mianwali district, was a peaceful village with clean air and pristine surroundings. The Salt Range mountains lie north and west of the town. Although coal mines had existed in these mountains since the British era, large-scale extraction of other minerals, particularly silica sand, began only after 1990. At the time, no one thought to question the emissions from the mechanised grinding and purification plants set up near the town, which continually pollute the air.

Currently, the Environmental Protection and Climate Change Department office in Mianwali lacks an Air Quality Monitoring System (AQMS), making accurate, real-time PM2.5 data unavailable. However, studies confirm that these silica sand plants emit hazardous particulate matter, including PM2.5, the most dangerous for human health and the environment. Such emissions have been linked to diseases like silicosis, tuberculosis, and chronic beryllium disease.

Individuals and businesses also maintain open coal depots within Kamar Mushani’s municipal boundaries, creating another layer of environmental risk. These coal sites are declared hazardous to the health of town residents.

Further aggravating this issue, a cluster of educational institutions is situated near these silica sand dumping sites and open coal depots. Recognising the serious health implications, concerned residents raised the issue with the Environment Protection and Climate Change Department office in Mianwali as recently as June 2023. They also sent several communications to senior officials, including the director general of the Environmental Protection Agency in Lahore, the secretary of the Environment Protection and Climate Change Department, and the chief secretary of Punjab.

They have yet to receive a response, underscoring the indifference and bureaucratic inertia prevalent in these agencies. Frustrated by the apathy of local officials, residents escalated their concerns to the chief minister, but even this yielded no result.

A third, equally pressing, issue is the town’s inadequate waste disposal practices. The Municipal Committee collects town waste using tractors, which then dump it at convenient, indiscriminate locations rather than at a proper landfill. Despite repeated demands from residents for a dedicated landfill, there has been no action from the relevant officials or political leaders. In the absence of a purpose-built landfill, Kamar Mushani is slowly transforming into a massive waste dump – a scenario that will only worsen in the coming years if neglected further.

This entire situation underscores the Punjab government’s disconnection from the public and reveals how successive administrations, including the current one, consistently dismiss citizen concerns. The government’s refusal to acknowledge and address these issues is emblematic of more extensive governance failures. The inability of the government to address pollution in a small town like Kamar Mushani raises severe questions about its capability to handle the complex environmental challenges faced by larger cities like Lahore.

The situation illustrates a significant lack of accountability within the Environment Protection and Climate Change Department. The department’s inefficiency, compounded by the apathy of political representatives and an entrenched culture of poor governance, will have far-reaching consequences for public health and citizens’ constitutional right to life and clean air.

The Punjab government must prioritise environmental issues and begin enforcing the Punjab Environmental Protection Act of 1997 in both letter and spirit. To ignore this is to forget the urgent words of renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, who warned, “We have reached a point of no return – Everything is interconnected. We must protect the environment before it is too late.”

The writer is a retired civil servant and former member of the Punjab Public Service Commission. He can be reached at: aslampk761@gmail.com