Highlights: The toxic smog that hangs over Pakistan, and more particularly the large city of Lahore, has sickened tens of thousands of people in recent months. Artificial rain was deployed last December to combat smog, a national first. Lahore lies in an airshed that tends to trap pollutants, preventing them from dispersing easily. Industries, transport and human activities create gigantic pollution which sometimes contributes – if the wind is involved – to nearly 30% of the pollution in New Delhi in India. A regional airshed management policy would involve countries agreeing to set common air quality targets.

The toxic smog that hangs over Pakistan, and more particularly the large city of Lahore, has sickened tens of thousands of people in recent months. Flights have been cancelled.…

Pakistan: the city of Lahore still immersed in toxic smog

The toxic smog that hangs over Pakistan, and more particularly the large city of Lahore, has sickened tens of thousands of people in recent months.

Flights have been canceled.

Artificial rain was deployed last December to combat smog, a national first.

Nothing seems to work.

Thick toxic fog engulfed the streets of Lahore, Pakistan, here on January 5, 2024. © KM Chaudary / AP

By: Clea Broadhurst Follow

Lahore, Pakistan's cultural capital, lies in an airshed that tends to trap pollutants, preventing them from dispersing easily.

Industries, transport and human activities create gigantic pollution which sometimes contributes – if the wind is involved – to nearly 30% of the pollution in New Delhi in India.

Residents of the city describe it as mostly

shrouded in thick fog

- nicknamed smog, a toxic mix of gases and particles that is contributing to a 100% increase in the number of patients suffering from respiratory illnesses this winter. according to doctors on site.

Read alsoIn Pakistan, artificial rains caused to stem air pollution

The causes of this pollution

Air quality in Lahore typically deteriorates during the winter season, from October to February, when farmers in Punjab province light the remains of their crops, producing smoke that adds to the smog.

At the same time, weather changes cause pollutants to remain trapped in the air longer.

Air pollution in Lahore is caused by a combination of vehicle and industrial emissions, smoke from brick kilns, incineration of crop residues and general waste, and dust from construction sites .

Other factors of air pollution include massive loss of trees to construct new roads and buildings.

Air pollution in winter is worse due to temperature inversion, which results in a layer of warm air that is prevented from rising and traps pollutants in the air.

Also listen: Air pollution in India: what does it have to do with global warming?

Regional cooperation needed

Ideally, there should be greater cooperation between countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and India to jointly fight against this scourge.

However, the political relations of these countries are tense to say the least - ties between India and Pakistan are severed.

According to World Bank estimates, nearly 93% of Pakistanis and 96% of Indians are exposed to high levels of pollution.

A study by the group estimates that around 220,000 deaths per year in Pakistan's Punjab can be attributed to causes related to poor air quality.

A regional airshed management policy would involve countries agreeing to set common air quality targets and measures that each could implement, meeting regularly to share experiences and, where possible , that they set common standards for air quality.

Pakistan is just weeks away from national legislative elections.

So far, only former foreign minister and party leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has pledged to invest heavily in climate adaptability, following record floods that killed more than 1,700 people.

Pakistan: the city of Lahore still immersed in toxic smog

Pakistan: the city of Lahore still immersed in toxic smog

The causes of this pollution

Regional cooperation needed

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