Serious health hazards: Official claims smog is coming from India due to massive crop burning
AQI of Amritsar in India was 189 while Lahore’s AQI was 289
LAHORE: Smog has engulfed the provincial metropolis here on Monday blurring the vision and causing serious health problems for the citizens as the Air Quality Index (AQI) reached 289.
The sudden increase in smog has raised serious questions over the performance of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Environmental Protection Department (EPD), which seemed to fail in implementing the SOPs to counter smog.
Sources in EPA revealed that a number of furnaces in northern side of Lahore were operating at night and used sub-standard fuel and material such as rubber tyres, plastic and other materials which also contributed to rising air pollution.
Sources further said that a very half-hearted campaign was started against smoke emitting vehicles in the city and EPA’s claims of using safe city cameras to take action against smoke emitting vehicles was just a statement.
Increase in fine particles (PM 2.5) are the main cause of reduced visibility (haze) in Lahore on Monday and several citizens interviewed by the scribe on roads claimed they were feeling irritation in eyes and difficulty in breathing and irritation in throat followed by cough.
As per the report released by EPD’s spokesperson, the AQI level in the city on Monday was 289, which as per their standards come in “Moderately Pollution” while as per USA standards AQI level between 201-300 is “Very Unhealthy” and health warnings of emergency conditions should be issued because the entire population was more likely to be affected by this.
It is pertinent to mention here that EPA has only one mobile van, which can monitor the level of PM 2.5 while rest of its eight fixed stations in the provincial metropolis were either non-functional or were not able to detect PM 2.5.
On the other hand, District Officer (Environment) Lahore Ali Ejaz while talking to the scribe claimed that smog was coming from India due to massive crop burning. It is pertinent to mention here that on Monday AQI of Amritsar in India was 189 while Lahore’s AQI was 289, which didn’t match with the statement of DO (Env) Lahore.
Over a question about action against polluting industries, he said EPA was taking regular actions against industries. He said out of over 300 steel furnaces, 60 per cent were already closed down or shifted outside Lahore.
He said six industries were inspected on Monday out of which three were sealed over violation of SOPs. He further said that 166 vehicles were checked out of which 44 were fined and three vehicles were impounded.
The News called both Secretary EPD Mubashar Hussain and DG EPA Ambreen Sajid but both didn’t attend the call nor replied to text messages.
Health experts said that the size of particles was directly linked to their potential for causing health problems. Small particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter pose the greatest problems, because they can go deep into lungs and some may even get into bloodstream. “Exposure to such particles can affect both lungs and heart,” said Dr Tariq Chishti, a general physician.
He said numerous scientific studies have linked particle pollution exposure to a variety of problems including premature death in people with heart or lung disease, non-fatal heart attacks, irregular heartbeat, aggravated asthma, decreased lung function, increased respiratory symptoms, such as irritation of the airways, coughing or difficulty breathing.
Dr Tariq advised that people with heart or lung diseases, children and adults were the most likely to be affected by particle pollution exposure and they should remain indoor during smog season.
