Smog: India, Pakistan should jointly fight air pollution, says Pakistan minister

WITH air pollution and winter smog at alarming levels in many Indian and Pakistani cities, a Pakistani minister has called for a joint effort to fight the menace.

Marriyum Aurangzeb, who holds the portfolio of environment protection and climate change in the Maryam Nawaz Sharif-led cabinet in Punjab, told The Indian Express that it was 'high time' both the countries, "especially Punjabs on both sides of the border", to come up with a joint plan to combat smog.

She said the Punjab government would ask Pakistan's foreign office to take up the matter with India's foreign ministry.

Chief minister Maryam Nawaz also called for climate diplomacy with India and said she would soon write to the chief minister of the Indian side of Punjab to jointly address the issue of smog.

The air quality index (AQI) in Punjab's capital Lahore recently hit a high of 1900.

According to AQI classifications, a range of 0-50 is considered "good," 51-100 "satisfactory," 101-200 "moderate," 201-300 "poor," 301-400 "very poor," and 401-500 "severe."

In an SOS from across the border, Aurangzeb claimed the easterly winds from Amritsar and Chandigarh in India were spiking Lahore's air quality index.

War room

The state has set up a "smog war room" to tackle severe pollution, officials said, as poor air quality forced the closure of some educational institutions in Lahore.

"The war room committee will review weather and air quality forecasts ... daily and monitor the performance and actions of field officers," said Sajid Bashir, a spokesperson for the province's environment department.

Officials told Reuters it brings together staff from eight departments, with a single person charged with overseeing tasks from controlling the burning of farm waste to managing traffic.

Authorities in Punjab ordered educational institutions in several areas to close until November 17 and shift to online teaching instead to protect children and curb pollution.

Earlier only primary schools in Lahore had been shut for a week.

Smog blanket

South Asia is shrouded in intense pollution every winter as cold air traps emissions, dust, and smoke from farm fires, while pollution could cut more than five years from people's life expectancy in the region, a study found last year.

On Tuesday the environment minister of New Delhi, rated the world's most polluted capital for four successive years by IQAir, said officials were looking to artificial rain to fight the problem this year.

The Delhi government also plans to hire three mist spray drones to combat dust pollution in hotspot areas as well as gather real-time data on major pollutants.

These drones would be deployed across 13 identified pollution hotspots to spray water and improve air quality, they said.

This will help in settling dust particles, reducing particulate matter (PM) concentrations and mitigating the adverse effects of air pollution on public health and the environment, officials said.

Other northern areas of India are also battling severe pollution. The AQI in several cities in Indian Punjab and Haryana are at dangerous levels.

The condition also got aggravated due to the bursting of crackers during the recent Diwali festival. (Agencies)