Residents in Pakistan’s Lahore said on Monday that the toxic smog covering the eastern city was affecting their health, calling on the government to restrict smoke-emitting vehicles from plying the roads.
Lahore was last week ranked as the world’s second most polluted city according to a list compiled by Swiss group IQAir, which put the city’s air quality index (AQI) at 335. India’s New Delhi took the top spot with an AQI of 640.
An AQI of 0-50 is considered good while a reading above 100 is termed unhealthy for those with pulmonary issues. Anything between 301-500 is considered “hazardous.”
According to the Meteorological Department, Lahore’s AQI was close to 400 at various locations on Monday.
“The weather is such that everyone has a bad throat and bad eyes, and everyone’s health is getting affected,” said Mohammad Salahuddin, a private security guard.
“This has been happening since the last 5-7 years. It was not like this before. It is a result of climate change.”
Ehsan Khan, another resident, said the government should ban smoke-emitting vehicles from coming on roads.
“The environmental [department] people should also do something about getting rid of vehicles that spread smoke because people are getting tuberculosis, coughs and colds because of this,” Khan told Reuters.
“They are also getting eye problems.”
Mohsin Naqvi, interim chief minister of Punjab where Lahore is the largest city, has made it mandatory for all students to wear masks to school and police have been tasked with nabbing smoke-emitting vehicles as well as people burning rice stubble after harvest to clear their fields for the planting of wheat.
