The scourge of smog

Smog continues to engulf swathes of central Punjab, with the air quality fluctuating between 'very unhealthy' and 'hazardous' on the Air Visual's Quality Index (AIQ), which records pollution levels all over the world in real time. On Thursday, Lahore earned the unsavoury distinction of being the most polluted city in the world, prompting the government to order the closure - for the third time this month - on Friday of all public and private schools in Lahore as well as in two other smog-smitten cities, Gujranwala and Faisalabad. Outdoor activities in schools have already been prohibited till December 20. The indoor air quality though a bit better, is still far below safe levels. Children, of course, are more susceptible to harmful effects of smog and hence need to be protected as far as possible. But it also causes a wide-range of health problems among adults, especially senior citizens, from eye and skin irritation to respiratory and heart diseases.

This is the third consecutive year when smog - caused when smoke and dust pollution gets trapped in the atmosphere due to low temperatures - has returned in Punjab with a vengeance, playing havoc with public health. Yet there is no serious effort to counter it. The first important step in such situations is to correctly identify the sources of trouble. Going by the government officials pronouncements, the main causes of air pollution are the brick kilns and burning of rice crop stubble by farmers in Indian Punjab and Haryana. Last year, the brick kiln owners were warned to control emissions by installing zigzag technology or face closure. Many of them still continue to disregard that warning. As for the other issue, earlier this month, secretary of the provincial Environmental Protection Agency had claimed "we have already taken adequate steps to prevent local contribution to smog, and we're ready to combat those coming from Indian Punjab." Media reports, nonetheless, suggest stubble burning on this side of the border has not come to a complete halt whilst it is incomprehensible as to how the government can stop smoke bellowing in from the other side of the border.

No less serious cause of trouble is industrial and vehicular pollution. Most industries flout their environmental obligations with impunity. Last year, some industries in Lahore were banned from burning tyres as fuel, which produced toxic emissions containing carcinogens and other health hazards. No one knows how long that activity had been going on, or if it has ended. Then there is no check on smoke emitting vehicles. Worse still is the substandard quality of gasoline, particularly diesel, on which run all kinds of vehicles. Oil refineries have continued to resist efforts to upgrade their plants to international standards. The previous two governments have been trying to have them switch over from RON 87 (research Octane number) to higher grade premium motor gasoline, without any success. Offer of some incentives may work where pervious exhortations to abide by the rules failed. The air quality will not improve until and unless this government takes both short- and long-term measures to address all these issues in an effective manner.