Rain lowers smog level

LAHORE :Scattered rain brought down the rising level of smog in the provincial capital Friday while Met office predicted more rains during the next 24 hours, which if occurred will end the smog.

The level of smog was very high on Friday morning but in evening scattered rain accompanied with westerly winds washed away major chunk of smog from the sky of provincial capital. However, cloudy weather prevailed in the night.

The major cause of smog was vehicular pollution, industrial smoke, brick-kilns smoke, smoke from burning of crops residue and dust-raising from development projects as well as heaps of garbage left on city roads.

Recently, Commissioner Lahore Division Asif Bilal Lodhi had discussed the idea of artificial rain in the city to wash away smog but reportedly EPD director general declared it unworkable due to heavy cost. Commissioner Lahore Division while talking with the scribe said that smog had become a serious challenge for cities like Lahore and there was a need of permanent planning of preventive and remedial strategy and action against smog because there is absolutely no compromise on human health. He said that environment, traffic police, transport, district administrations, agriculture and information departments must put their full energy to curb smog reasons and public awareness.

He said that almost 36 teams were working for anti-smog campaign in Lahore and these teams were checking smoke-emitting vehicles entering the city at night. He said that traffic police and all 18 zonal officers of MCL would also work with environment teams. He said all departments were working separately but coordinated efforts would be more fruitful.

The Commissioner said that he had already directed DC of Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib and Kasur to sensitise their efforts to the level of Lahore because those districts were adjoining. He said there was zero-tolerance on burning of stubble and emissions from brick-kilns, vehicles and industrial units. He said that a crackdown would be continued on kilns without zigzag technology.

He said he had also directed that fitness certificates for all government vehicles must be renewed within next three days. He said massive public awareness campaign was the need of the hour and that must be reflected on all media. He said all DCs were asked to get pin point location from satellite imagery to curtail stubble burning and for targeted crackdown. He said that not only Lahore, but Nankana Sahib, Kasur and Sheikhupura were also facing smog condition severely.

As per Air Quality Index of US Embassy in Lahore the level of pm 2.5 reached 245. Meanwhile, on the direction of provincial minister EPD M Rizwan, the provincial department issued advisory regarding precautionary measures to protect from smog.

The EPD said that all relevant departments had been assigned tasks under the Smoke Action Plan but AQI is relatively little bit higher side now days in some areas. The department advised that wear grade N99 masks all the time when you're outdoors, the more clean water you drink, the more toxins will get diluted, to avoid cardio use mask during jogging or walking, avoid meat, eat more vegetables as your body requires more oxygen to break down meat, get yourself Aloe Vera plants and Spider Plants and scatter them around your home, do Yoga indoors, always carry inhalers even if you don't suffer from asthma, visit your doctor immediately if you develop dust allergy, do not wear contact lens as it increases the risk of eye infections and use fog lights in your vehicles. The department appealed to the public to ensure precautionary measures to prevent their family from smog.

On the other hand, Met officials said that a westerly wave is affecting most parts of the country and likely to persist until Sunday (tomorrow). They predicted that on Saturday (today) widespread rain/wind-thunderstorm is expected in Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while at scattered places in Punjab, Lower Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Northeastern Balochistan, Upper Sindh, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir. Snowfall over mountains is also expected during the period. Meanwhile, heavy fall is also expected at few places in upper Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Rainfall was recorded in several cities. On Friday, minimum temperature was recorded at Gupis where mercury dropped down to -02°C while in Lahore, it was 10.8°C and maximum was 24.5°C.