he air quality in Lahore continues to deteriorate, putting the lives of the people as well as livestock in danger. The city administration and the Punjab government can’t seem to figure out ways to check the factors contributing to the menace.

Lahore’s smog problem is now almost a decade old. It is said to have been witnessed for the first time in 2015. Lahore’s air quality has since worsened to hazardous levels. In global rankings, it is routinely the most polluted city.

This year has been no different. In the first half of November, the pollution levels in Lahore reached the highly dangerous figure of 2,500 in some parts of the city, including Gulberg, Polo Ground, Pakistan Engineering Services Headquarters and The Mall. The solutions attempted by the government are no different from what we’ve been hearing all along. Facemasks have been made mandated, businesses told to shut down earlier than usual and most schools are to remain closed till November 17. Additionally, the authorities have announced a crackdown on vehicles emitting smoke. To no effect.

According to Sardar Asif Sayal, an environmental lawyer, the government’s response to smog has been “insufficient and disjointed.” He tells TNS that the government has failed to enforce its anti-smog regulations.

Citing our constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment, as guaranteed in the 26^th Amendment, Sayal says the government is obligated to protect the citizens from environmental hazards. He criticises the concerned departments for “prioritising short-term economic gains over public health and environmental sustainability.”

“Every year the smog returns. It leaves a serious impact on our lives and environment. It has turned into a catastrophe that hits us without fail, affecting our lungs, contaminating our water sources and jeopardising our agricultural yields.”

He also says the main contributors to the worsening smog are unchecked vehicular emissions, crop stubble burning and rapid industrial growth. The resulting polluted air causes allergies, exacerbates asthma, weakens immunity and could lead to heart disease.

“Smog has turned into a catastrophe that hits us every year without fail, affecting our lungs, contaminating our water sources and jeopardising our agricultural yields,” says environmental lawyer Sardar Asif Sayal.

Arifa Khalid, 70, a resident of Shahdara, which has clocked AQI readings of 200 and above since the start of November, is one of the many people experiencing the impact of smog. She says she has some underlying health conditions but as soon as the smog season starts, she finds it hard to breathe.

Advocate Aasya Ismail, who also works for the protection of environment, believes that the previous governments as well as the present one have failed to tackle the issue of smog. She says only divine intervention could put an end to it. She puts it down to what she calls the “foremost contributor to air pollution” — that is, vehicular traffic.

According to a report prepared by the Urban Unit, an autonomous technical arm of the Punjab government, 83.15 percent of Lahore’s air pollution is due to road transport, 9.07 percent due to industries, 3.9 percent due to agriculture, 3.6 percent due to trash burning, 0.14 percent due to commercial activities, and 0.11 percent due to domestic activities.

Sheikh Ibrahim, a businessman, accuses politicians of making hollow promises. He recalls how a smog commission was constituted on the directions of the Lahore High Court which, after examining the causes of air pollution and smog, formulated long-term and short-term proposals. He says most of the commission’s recommendations were never implemented.

“Penalising only the industry wouldn’t be fair,” he says. “The government should prepare a well thought out strategy to check the sale and purchase of substandard fuel in the city which is the root-cause of smog in the city.”

Some of the Smog Commission’s recommendations, especially those to do with transport, for instance making public transport mandatory for 75 percent students in educational institutions, and regulating vehicle use on specific days according to their number plates, were never realised.

Ahsan Zia is a print and broadcast journalist