EDITORIAL: As record levels of air pollution blanket urban centres in Punjab with AQI readings much higher than the ‘hazardous’ level on most days, the PPP, a major ally of the ruling PML-N, seems to be trying to hold with the hare and run with the hounds.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the party’s Punjab secretary general Hassan Murtaza lashed out at the government for its failure to control smog. Taking a dig at Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz for travelling to Geneva to seek medical treatment and accusingly being wary of local healthcare system, he asked whatever happened to the letter she was supposed to write to her counterpart in Indian Punjab about collaborative action to reduce smog. Furthermore, he rightly pointed out that the government was relying on temporary solutions, calling for long-term measures to combat smog.
The air quality is bad in Lahore and other big cities all year round, but gets noticed in winter months when due to temperature inversion pollutants get suspended in the air and become visible, causing public despair and desperation. Although the sources of trouble are quite well-known, the government blames it largely on rice stubble burning in the neighbouring Indian Punjab.
Indeed, easterly winds do spike AQI in Lahore, but according to environmental experts, contribution of emissions from across the border to air quality in Lahore is about 30 percent, the rest of pollutants come from local vehicular and industrial emissions.
In fact, last Friday, the AQI value in Multan in southern Punjab rose to a record high level of 2000, making it the world’s most polluted city. Rules and regulations are in place for the prevention and control of industrial pollution in the province, but are generally defied with impunity.
Faced with unremitting smog, the provincial government has imposed ‘green lockdowns’ at public places in Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, and Multan divisions. Aside from schools, all parks, playgrounds, zoos, museums and historical places have been closed in a bid to cut down on vehicular pollution. Yet the average AQI in Lahore on Monday was 540–614. It is about time the government initiated long-term smog elimination measures as well.
The key culprit remains vehicular traffic, mainly because of the substandard quality of fuel. It’s been more than a decade when a previous federal government had claimed to introduce Euro-5 standard fuels, but except for some selected PSO petrol stations it is still unavailable to the public.
Refineries have not upgraded their facilities. They continue to market Euro-2 dirty fuel, despite cost-plus pricing of their products. They must be made to make necessary upgradation. Meanwhile, in addition to cars, exacerbating the problem are ever-increasing numbers of two-stroke combustion engine motorcycles that have become a necessity for people in the absence of a proper public transportation system.
The Green Bus and Orange Train systems in a city of 13 million people have a very limited utility. Given the gravity and urgency of the issue at hand, governments in all the provinces need to focus on initiating mass transit schemes. That requires substantial financial resources, which should be manageable by diverting the bulk of the PSDP (Public Sector Development Programme) funds to this need. The time to act is now.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024