Confronting 'Danger in the Air'

It is a well-known fact that the smog that last month descended on Lahore and some other parts of the country plays havoc with public health. And that the most vulnerable are children and elderly people. A new UNICEF report entitled "Danger in the Air" warns that smog - resulting from the mixing of fog with smoke emanating from crop burning vehicular and industrial emissions and other pollutants - can permanently damage a child's brain. The particulate matter in it can trigger neuro-inflammation and also lead to oxidative stress, causing neurodegenerative diseases. Equally affected are the lungs. In an earlier report, the UNICEF had noted that children are uniquely vulnerable to air pollution as they breathe faster than adults, taking in more air relative to their body weight. Other scientific studies suggest even small exposures to pollutants in utero and early childhood can result in lifelong disease, disability, premature death and reduced learning and earning potential. At risk hence is the new generations right to live normal lives as well as their ability to contribute to socio-economic progress.
The problem, of course, has not surfaced all of a sudden; it is the outcome of years of neglect to rising levels of pollution that are less visible and hence remain unnoticed and unaddressed. The recent smog created a general scare forcing the government to take action since it can be seen and also felt instantly for causing a burning sensation in the eyes. Factories using such highly noxious materials for fuel like rubber tyres, and farmers burning rice crop stubble were ordered to stop the activities. Smog across the border in northern India, especially in New Delhi, was just as bad, if not worse. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif wrote a letter to his counterpart in Indian Punjab, saying it is in the interest of both sides to make collective efforts towards indentifying technologies and business methods that may eliminate the need to burn rice stubble and help control smog formation. Although some sceptics saw that as an attempt to shift the responsibility for the issue, it is a much welcome initiative that can help fight a common challenge, and perhaps create a constituency for peace.
That though won't be enough. Governments in all the four provinces as well as at the Centre must get serious about adopting longer-term strategies, in the light of expert opinion, to combat pollution. In fact, they do not need go too far to look for the right solutions. It has been more than a year that the Federal Ministry of Climate Change and the UN Environmental Programme produced a joint Technical Needs Assessment Report which indentified a number of technologies for mitigation strategies in the transport, agriculture, energy and industrial sectors. Those proposals have since remained consigned to the cold storage on the pretext of financial constraints. Nothing should be more important than countering pollution that prematurely kills 21.9 percent (Lancet Commission report statistic) Pakistanis, many of them children, and causes irreparable brain damage to most others.