LAHORE: Dust-raising winds are likely to reign in Punjab by the end of November up to the middle of December, said Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) sources.
They said dust will be the dominating feature due to the wheat sowing activities in major parts of the province and the upcoming frequent spells of westerly winds are likely to impact their density further.
Accordingly, said the sources, the dust would mix up with polluted particles in major cities, transforming it into smog. They said the intensity of rain is also likely to be below normal during the period and a change would occur in the early parts of January when heavy rains are expected throughout the province.
Since then, they said, the water availability for agriculture would be a major issue and both canal and tube well water would be depended upon for irrigation purposes. Shahid Abbas, Director PMD, said the element of smog would be witnessed ahead for at least one month that would be followed by fog with drop in temperature.
It may be noted that the temperature had dropped by 2 degrees in Islamabad and Northern areas, which is considered as below normal temperature if compared with the corresponding period. So far as Central and Southern Punjab areas are concerned, the temperature is yet at normal level and the induced factors for smog would remain active until a drop in temperature in these areas.
However, strong westerly winds are occurring frequently over the past few weeks, which have pushed the pollutant air to India in the recent past. Two new systems of westerly winds are likely to occur during the next four months that would keep the air quality index under control.
Mr Ali Ijaz, Deputy Director Environment Protection Agency, said the index has dropped to 250 from 350 plus recorded a year earlier. He said special squads have been active against the factories involved in air pollution and some 350 factories were closed down besides imposing fines until they have installed pollution control equipments.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022