From Monday, 50% of office workers will also work from home as part of a ‘green lockdown’ plan
Unprecedented air pollution in the Pakistani city of Lahore has forced the authorities to close all elementary schools for a week.
From Monday, the 50% of office workers will also work from home, as part of a “green lockdown” plan. Other measures include banning motor rickshaws and barbecue vendors without filters.
“This smog is very harmful to children, masks should be mandatory in schools” said Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb.
Lahore, the second largest city of Pakistantopped the world’s list of cities with the most polluted air for the second time on Sunday.
The air quality index, which measures a range of pollutants, surpassed 1,000 on Saturdaywell above the benchmark of 300 considered “dangerous” by World Health Organizationaccording to IQAir data.
The level of fine particles in the air, the most harmful to health, also shot up to dangerous levels.
THE Raja Jehangir Anwara senior environment official, said the “biggest headache” causing the smog was the practice of burning crop waste, known as stubble, on the border with India.
Aurangzeb said the fumes were “carried by the strong winds to Pakistan”.
“This cannot be solved without talks with India,” he said, adding that the provincial government would initiate such discussions through the foreign ministry.
The government urges citizens to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary travel.
Vehicles equipped with pumps spray water into the air to help control smog levels. Construction work has stopped in some areas.
The situation will be reassessed next Saturday to see if schools will remain closed.
OR inhalation of toxic air can have devastating health consequences, including strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and certain respiratory diseases, according to the WHO.
Last month, students were banned from exercising outdoors until January and school hours were adjusted to prevent children from traveling when pollution levels are highest.
“As a mother, I am full of stress42-year-old Lily Mirza told the AFP news agency.
“Last year wasn’t so bad… Someone needs to tell us what happened. A pollution bomb went off somewhere?”
The smog crisis is worst in winter, when cold, denser air traps pollutants closer to the ground.
Source: Skai
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