STORY: :: Officials close public spaces, including the zoo, in Pakistan’s second largest city due bad smog levels
:: November 9, 2024
:: Lahore, Pakistan
:: Mohammad Qasim, Visitor to Lahore
“They have closed schools that don’t create smog. They have not closed the factories and brick kilns. They are not closing the things which create smog but closing places that do not create smog. This park will not create smog. They should close factories and brick kilns and seize vehicles that are emitting smoke and causing smog.”
The provincial government was also considering closing down universities, after shutting schools earlier this week.
The air quality in Lahore has deteriorated drastically, earning Punjab’s regional capital the rank of world’s most polluted city, according to Swiss air purification equipment maker IQAir.
The air quality index stood at 553 around midday on Saturday.
South Asia annually faces severe pollution due to trapped dust, emissions and stubble burning – the practice of setting fire to fields after the harvest of grain.
Punjab has attributed this year’s particularly high pollution levels to toxic air from neighboring India, where air quality has also reached hazardous levels.
