Chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab calls for diplomacy with India to tackle smog

Commuters drive along a road amid heavy smog in Lahore on October 29, 2024. (AFP)

• Maryam Nawaz Sharif says contemplating writing letter to Indian counterpart to seek “joint measures”
• New Delhi was world’s second most polluted city on Wednesday followed by Lahore in neighboring Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The chief minister of Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province on Wednesday called for diplomacy with neighbor and arch-rival India to combat smog as both nations grapple with hazardous levels of air pollution ahead of the winter months.
Rated the world’s most polluted capital by Swiss group IQAir for four years in a row, New Delhi was the world’s second most polluted city on Wednesday, the group’s live rankings showed, followed by Lahore in neighboring Pakistan. Baghdad in Iraq was ranked number one on the list.
When cooler temperatures take hold, pollution spirals and air quality deteriorates as temperature inversion traps pollution closer to the ground, packing hospital wards in Lahore and New Delhi with patients with respiratory problems.
Rising air pollution can cut life expectancy by more than five years per person in South Asia, one of the world’s most polluted regions, according to a report published last year which flagged the growing burden of hazardous air on health.
Addressing a ceremony to mark the Hindu cultural festival of Diwali on Wednesday, the Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif said Pakistan and India needed to coordinate actions to temper toxic smog, which winds carry across the border.
“There is an issue of smog in Pakistan’s Punjab, especially in Lahore. So, we must do this diplomacy with India,” Sharif said. “For the health of people there [Indian Punjab], for their betterment and the betterment of our side of the border, for our health, for the health of our people, until both Punjabs take joint measures, we won’t be able to fight smog.”
The annual practice of burning crop stubble left after harvesting paddy to clear fields for wheat planting is widely blamed for toxic pollution in the region before winter, causing disruptions such as school closures and construction curbs.
But people often also flout New Delhi’s ban on smoke-emitting firecrackers, usually burnt in celebration of the Diwali festival which runs from Wednesday to Friday this year, worsening pollution.
Sharif said she was contemplating writing a letter to her Indian counterpart, Bhagwant Mann, on the issue of combating smog.
“This is not a political issue, it’s a human issue, on which if we [Pakistan] are taking steps, then the Indian side should have a matching response, the same measures should be taken there because the winds don’t know that there is a boundary in between,” Sharif added.
Relations between India and Pakistan have gone through periods of thaw but have been largely frozen since they downgraded diplomatic ties in tit-for-tat moves in 2019.
In Pakistan’s Punjab, authorities have enforced new measures to combat hazardous smog, including making mask-wearing mandatory across the city of Lahore. New, shorter school timings have also been announced in the city while student assemblies will be conducted in classrooms rather than outdoor spaces. All outdoor activities at schools have been temporarily suspended. A ban has also been imposed on fireworks in Lahore until Jan. 31, 2025.
Breathing toxic air has catastrophic health consequences, with the World Health Organization saying strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases can be triggered due to prolonged exposure.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, nearly 600 million children in South Asia are exposed to high levels of air pollution.