(24 Nov 2021) LEAD IN:
A thick cloud of smog that enveloped Pakistan's cultural capital has earned it the ignominious title of world's most polluted city, according to a Swiss air quality monitoring company.
Platform IQAir said Lahore now stands at the top of its polluted cities ranking, with an air quality index of 203 on the US AQI scale, versus second-placed Delhi, India, with 183.
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Increasing smog and particle-laden air has sickened thousands of people with respiratory diseases and other illnesses, forcing many to stay at home on particularly dirty days.
Lahore was once known as the city of gardens, which were ubiquitous during the Mughal era of the 16th to 19th centuries.
Intense urbanization and surging population growth have left little room for greenery across the city, Pakistan's second largest after capital Karachi.
"When we get up early in the morning, and leave for university, the intensity of smog is at its peak, the weather causes irritation in the eyes, and breathing problems," says student Murtaza Ali.
Doctors are advising people to wear face masks to avoid respiratory related diseases.
"This smog usually effects the young children and old-age patients, they are very much prone to this smog, Therefore they should be very careful in this season," says Dr. Javaid Iqbal, chief ENT consultant at Lahore's Mayo Hospital.
Rafeh Alam, an environmental expert who's raising awareness about the dangers of increasing air pollution, says many people, including women and children, have been exposed to toxic air.
He's urging the government to take measures to reduce air pollution.
"Air pollution is a serious and grave public health emergency, where there is no safe amount of air pollution, so everyone is at risk of all sorts... not just cardiovascular, but cancers and all sort of ailments," says Alam.
"But not just people, most at risk are children. Children, because they are growing, consume more air. And every organ in their developing body can be impacted by bad air pollution."
Winds worsen pollution by further spreading smog across the region.
"It's about 43, 45 percent of year-long air pollution coming from the transport sector, that's the incredibly dirty fuels and diesels that we use in our automobiles," explains Alam.
"And after that, it's the industrial sector and the energy sector. The energy sector often uses furnace oil and coal, which are incredibly polluting to the air as well, so these are the areas I suspect that we need to focus on."
Authorities say they've closed some factories, some have been fined for not using technology that helps control air pollution.
Ali Ijaz, a district officer at Lahore's Environment Protection Department, visited the city's industrial area and sealed one steel factory thought to be not following government instructions.
"We observed a huge cloud of smoke coming from this area. We visited different units and then identified that this unit is causing the smoke in that area," he says.
Adding to the pollution is the popular practice among Pakistani farmers of setting fire to the remnants of last season's crops before preparing the land for new planting.
Protestors recently took to Lahore's streets, demanding the country's government take the climate into consideration when drafting new legislation and measures.
"We are demanding now, see how many people are here, to raise their voice, to keep this planet safer for everyone," says social activist Bushra Khalid.
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