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Friday March 29, 2024

Thick smog paralyses life in South Punjab

By Nadeem Shah
November 03, 2017

MULTAN: Thick blanket of smog covered the roads and streets of Multan and other south Punjab cities on Friday disrupting the routine life and causing to slow down road traffic, delaying schools transport to reach at desired destinations.

The frequent power interruption and unabated electricity shutdown manifold miseries of citizen.

"We are experiencing a painful situation from Thursday-Friday midnight after power shutdown started. The shutdown has been continued for the last 12 hours and the authorities are least concerned to public problems", Malik Abdur Rahim, a resident at Bosan road said. The power shutdown removed after 13 hours maintenance work in southern Punjab.

 The Multan Electric Power Company officials said the shutdown took place in main transmission, which shut four feeders in Multan. The Citizen faced unwanted situation because of that tripping.

A representative to motorway Imran Shah while explaining the visibility on national highways, said the visibility from Lahore to Patoki is observed just 50 meters. The spokesman said that the visibility is observed 50-100 meters from Kala Shah Kaku to Kot Momin. Pindi Bhatian to Faisalabad 60 meters.

The Khanewal to Multan motorway section has been closed due to poor visibility, spokesman said.

From Sahiwal to Khanewal, Multan to Bahawalpur the visibility is observed zero to 20 meters. The visibility from Bahawalpur to Sadiqabad is observed 40 to 100 meters.

"We have issued instructions to drivers to reduce speed and switch on fog lights to avoid any untoward incident", motorway spokes representative said.

Senior physician Dr Imarn Rafiq said that thick smog causes health hazards. The smog is harmful and it is evident from the components that form it and effects that can happen from it. It is harmful to humans, animals, plants and the nature as a whole. The numbers of deaths have been reported due to smog.

Heavy smog is responsible for decreasing the UV radiation greatly and it results in a low production of the crucial natural element vitamin D leading to cases of rickets among people.

When a city or town is covered in smog, the effects are felt immediately. Smog can be responsible for any ailment from minor pains to deadly pulmonary diseases such as lung cancer.

Dr Imran Rafiq said that smog is well known for causing irritation in the eye. It may also result in inflammation in the tissues of lungs; giving rise to pain in the chest. Other issues or illnesses such as cold and pneumonia are also related to smog.

The human body faces great difficulty in defending itself against the harmful effects of smog. Among the minors, the smog can lead to greater threats of asthma attacks; people suffering from asthma problems must avoid exposure.

Metrological officials said that smog has blanketed various cities including Multan, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalnagar, Layyah, Muzzafargarh, Khanewal, Vehari, Lodhran, Rahim Yar Khan and other parts.

Punjab Environment Protection Department official Zafar Iqbal told The News when the temperature goes to condense.  Smog is caused by difference between temperature at day and night time. When temperature is high at day and low at night smog builds up,” he said.

Zafar Iqbal said that smog comprising nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, Sulphur and other aerosols is causing health issues for the citizens who have been complaining about breathing problems, eye infections and minimum visibility on roads.

The Punjab Environment Protection Department data has showed that this is a regional phenomenon, covering large areas of South Asia from Delhi to Faisalabad and beyond. Various studies have linked it to the burning of rice stubbles in the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, during 2016 alone around 32 metric  tons of rice stubble were estimated to be burnt in Indian Punjab. Local sources of pollution, however, also had their own contribution to this situation.