Smog damage

For many, the dangers of the toxic smog that descended on upper Punjab the last two months are not clear. The issue made headlines again when Sri Lankan cricketers in Delhi were reported to have fallen ill and been unable to continue to take to the field. That the issue could affect an international sporting event brought home the debilitating everyday impact of the smog on local residents of Delhi, Lahore and other smog affected regions. But is there a short- and long-term impact of the smog? The short-term impact, according to the WHO, is around 60,000 deaths in Pakistan caused by the weeks of smog in November. This is not a small number. It is certainly higher than the number of deaths caused by dengue fever when it became an epidemic in Punjab. Whatever the limits of the strategies adopted to combat dengue fever, we know that the disease is taken to be a public health priority.

The impact of smog on respiratory illnesses is well-known and experienced by all. However, Unicef has revealed another disturbing fact. According to a report, air pollution can damage a child’s brain forever. It has even impaired the development of a foetus. The South Asia region has the largest proportion of babies living in an area where air pollution is at least six times higher than international limits. We know that schools had to be shut in Delhi last month – and probably should have been shut in our part of Punjab. But the damage prevention cannot be focused on keeping children inside homes. In Lahore, smog pollution had hit an alarming 1,077 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic metre which is over 30 times what the government considers safe. How many children will have suffered permanent to semi-permanent brain damage due to these alarmingly high levels will likely never be calculated. We know that over 300 million children in the world breathe toxic air every day. This is why the world’s decision to adopt a pollution-free plan is another important landmark. The gathering at the UN Environmental Assembly accepted the need for a complete overhaul of the way goods are produced and consumed. This is a big task and there have been very few concrete developments on this front. But this is a task that must be completed on an emergency footing. Millions of children and adults are at risk.