New Delhi: Pakistan’s Lahore is back in the news, this time not for the politics but for air that is considered toxic and unliveable by all global standards. The city has always been counted as one of the most polluted worldwide but the situation worsens in the cooler months. The air in Lahore becomes so toxic that you can smell, taste and feel the toxins in the air often, say inhabitants living in the area. As we write this op-ed, the city is dealing with unprecedented AQI over 1900 which is 30 times more than what is normal AQI according to WHO standards. With that number, Lahore’s air quality can be termed hazardous and may trigger fatal health conditions.
According to the data released by the provincial government, the city held the notorious top rank on a real-time list of the world’s most polluted cities and it recorded highest-ever pollution reading near the Pakistan-India border on Saturday. This is not the first time that Lahore has had air in the hazardous level. This is not the first time that Lahore has earned this repute. Even in 2022, Lahore jumped 10 places to become the city with the worst air in the world. It was also among the top 5 most polluted cities in 2021, with the air quality worsening to 97.4 micrograms of PM2.5 particles per cubic meter, making Lahore unbreathable for its citizens.
Yes, Pakistan has repeatedly featured in the top list of polluted countries in the world. Yet, there is not much that has been done to bring PM2.5 limit to meet with WHO guidelines. Instead political parties in Pakistan have resorted a blame game with India squarely blaming New Delhi for their bad air woes. In a press conference on Sunday, a minister in the provincial government, said that stubble burning in India is the biggest contributor to Lahore’s AQI issue. Is it?
Can stubble burning be a cause of bad air in Lahore?
This may seem like a straightforward question begging a simple answer, but to determine causes of bad air can not be a simple affair in any stretch of imagination.
It is a known fact that the situation in New Delhi is impacted due to stubble burning practices in Punjab and Haryana. This is so because the fumes created from the burning travel from north-northwest direction to Delhi (transport level wind speed is about 10–15 kilometers per hour). The problem is multiplied during peak burning season of October-November, when the north-westerly winds help spread smoke plumes all over northern India. Whether it is geographically tenable for the windspeed to carry the smog fumes from crop burning all the way to Lahore, which is also in the north-west side of India, is impossible to determine with assurance. But if there is similar instance of crop burning happening in Lahore and other nearby areas during the same time, environmentalists say it is possible that the pollutants in the air could be due to the fumes coming from closer quarters.
It is to be noted that despite the risks and safety concerns, burning of crop residue is considered an extremely common and widely acceptable practice in Pakistan, more so in the rice-wheat belt of the country. According to Pakistan Today, the Food and Agriculture Organisation claims that the country produces around 69 million tons of stubble annually, contributing to almost 20 per cent of the air pollution in the region. The World Bank, too, finds that smog costs Pakistan approximately 6.5 per cent of its GDP and is the number one cause for 22,000 premature adult deaths.
It will be in the best interest of both if Pakistan concentrated on crop burning issues within the Punjab province without getting into a petty sparring with New Delhi for their higher AQI levels. It is an understatement that air pollution needs urgent redressal by both India and Pakistan and not politically motivated statements coming from either side of the border. If smog diplomacy is the way forward to secure better, cleaner air in both countries there is no doubt that the authorities should yield.
What can Pakistan learn from India
The other thing that is ailing Pakistan with respect to the smog situation is bad governance. While India was quick to adapt to newer technologies and come up with policies to counter the impact of bad air, Pakistan seems to be struggling to even get the basics right. One of the reasons for this apathy is that air quality is not considered a top priority for the government as it is battling several other issues, such as poverty, inflation, and militant attacks, which are more pressing problems for the nation.
While India has a 7-point action plan to deal with the smog situation, Pakistan is still struggling to regulate industries and other waste disposal, among other things. They are also facing stiff resistance from local manufacturers, especially those from cloth merchants in Lahore, who feel that shutting down business for better air is not a bargain they are looking for. With increased and unchecked urbanisation in cities like Lahore and lack of planning to arrest the growing menace of air pollution, it appears there is a lot that still needs to be done by the authorities.
The Punjab government, in 2022, had even declared an environmental emergency and expedited the implementation of the Punjab Clean Air Action Plan 2019. But most environmentalists say this is only just one small step towards meeting the worsening smog situation in Pakistan.
Any cooperation sought from New Delhi will be met with without prejudice, precisely because good air is not restricted to geographical boundaries but is a humanitarian issue which needs to be dealt with utmost empathy.
