Spooky and dreary October 31st - smog in Lahore is scarier than Halloween. Calling it another season in Punjab won’t be wrong as Lahore and the other plain areas of Punjab come in the grip of thick smog yet again.

It’s not just the ongoing smoggy conditions in Punjab. Millions of Pakistanis are breathing in the world’s most toxic air throughout the year as Lahore continues to stay among cities with the worst air pollution. This can be seen from the city’s continuous top ranking on the Air Visual’s Air Quality Index (AQI), where higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution and health concern.

The reasons are several and much talked about. Burning of agricultural residual and municipal waste, brick kilns, Industrial and vehicular emissions, power generation as well as the dust from infrastructure and development projects especially that lay idle contribute to these poor conditions throughout the year, where the extra wallop comes from smoke from crop and stubble burning on both sides of the border in winters.

Though a little rain over the weekend has improved the situation a bit, the AQI still keeps Lahore on severe health hazard. It would take a lot more than just banking on the wind direction (to keep Indian crop burning at bay) or the rain to get some respite.

Last year, the Environment Protection Department (EPD) of Government of Punjab came up with Policy on Controlling Smog 2017, which included key measures revolving around creating awareness, controlling crop burning, increasing forestation and plantation, and implementing fuel efficiency in automobiles. However, the grim situation continues for a fifth consecutive year for the city and its surroundings as little has changed.

A good starting point, the policy remains unimplemented in many areas. EPD and others need to realise and declare smog a public health emergency. So far, a step in the right direction taken by the government has been the order to close the brick kilns from November 3, 2018 till the end of December 2018 excluding those that have graduated to less polluting technology known as zigzag. The zigzag technology reduces emissions by around 60 percent of black carbon and 40 percent of particulate matter. The technology is also more energy efficient, baking better quality bricks. However, the impact of the brick baking ban might just be nominal as other sources like transport, industries and crop burning continue unabated.

Though some other steps are also reportedly being taken by the government like tackling traffic pollution, and working on zero tillage seeding to control the contributors of smog, there is a need to move away from the general fire-fighting approach to a more holistic, long term one. The onset of smog is also the result of a disruption in the city’s natural habitat: increased infrastructure and construction activity,
chopping of trees and hence lower rainfall, rising number of vehicles on the roads and hence increased pollutions. No attention is being paid on these two aspects. Along with re-plantation campaigns, there is a need to lower the carbon emissions either by controlling the rising number of cars on the road, or installing of catalytic converters, or taxing roads usage.

Also, the government needs to regulate the industries and factories emitting pollutants in the air and enforce strict ban on burning though some argue that is difficult to control agriculture and crop burning because farmers are a strong electoral constituency for the politicians. Collection of data and monitoring the amount of pollution in the air to establish a baseline, checking levels before and after industrial, vehicular, municipal emissions and negotiating an international agreement with India to monitor and take corrective measure to control the pollutants coming from the other side of the border are also crucial for controlling this menace.