Punjab govt declares smog as ‘calamity’, sends children with medical issues on 3-month leave

As smog was declared a “calamity” in Punjab, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered all special education schools in Lahore to send students with conditions/diseases susceptible to poor air on a three-month leave from Friday.

In the early hours of Thursday, Lahore recorded an alarming Air Quality Index (AQI) of 201 — the second highest in the world, according to the global air quality monitoring platform, iqair.com.

While an AQI below 50 is considered safe for breathing, today’s record for Lahore fell in the ‘very unhealthy’ category.

On Monday night, Lahore was the most polluted city in the world, touching 708 AQI points.

According to a notification issued by the Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) on Monday, the decision to declare smog a calamity was taken under Section 3 of the Punjab National Calamities (Prevention and Relief) Act, 1958.

The notification, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, said deputy commissioners were delegated powers of relief commissioners to take all necessary measures to control and mitigate smog.

According to the notification, the Punjab government has banned several pollution-causing activities across the province.

These include burning any type of crop residue, solid waste, tyres, rubber and plastics, as well as vehicles emitting visible smoke and pollutants falling into inadmissible limits.

It also banned all industries working without emission control systems, saying they contributed to the deterioration in the AQI.

The provincial government also imposed a ban on all stone crushers operating without wet scrubbers, as well as on the sale and use of all types of sub-standard fuels.

All types of encroachments and any parking that caused hindrance in the smooth flow of traffic on public roads were not to be allowed, the notification asserted.

It further said activities without proper safeguard, which contribute to generating fugitive dust, were to be banned as well.

Leaves for children susceptible to poor air

Separately, the Punjab EPA ordered all “Schools of Special Education” in Lahore to send their students, who had medical conditions that could get triggered by poor air quality, on a three-month compulsory leave from Friday.

An order issued by Punjab EPA Director General Dr Imran Hamid Sheikh, signed today and a copy of which is available with Dawn.com*, stated that the schools, both public and private, should send “those students on compulsory leave who are suffering from diseases which get triggered by poor air quality”.

It went on to list several such conditions: broncho-vascular diseases (chest infections, throat infections, asthma, flu, cough, tuberculosis, pulmonary problems, allergies, etc) or cardio-vascular diseases (angina, arrhythmias, coronary artery disease, etc) or immunodeficiency (Covid-19, etc).

The decision will take effect from November 1 (Friday) till Jan 31, 2025, the document said.

Govt to take action against ‘negligent officers’: PDMA

According to Punjab PDMA Director General (DG) Irfan Ali Kathia, the government would take action against “negligent and irresponsible officers”.

In a statement, DG Kathia ordered that the entire province’s administration should ensure the implementation of the government’s measures to prevent smog.

He vowed that a case would be registered against people who burn crop residues, stressing that the administration and the people could eliminate smog together.

“People should support the government in the war against environmental pollution,” the PDMA DG said, adding that a smog emergency was in place and the government would strictly deal with law-breakers.

“Few people’s carelessness cannot harm hundreds and thousands of people,” DG Kathia asserted.

He also directed the administration to conduct a vigorous anti-smog awareness campaign and that mission smog remediation would not stop under any circumstance.

The Punjab government announced a “green lockdown” in designated smog hotspots across Lahore yesterday, imposing restrictions on barbecue joints, motorcycle rickshaws and marriage halls — measures described as insufficient and poorly planned by air quality experts.

Experts and academics have challenged the government data about the main contributors of smog, including vehicles and stubble burning, arguing that one could observe smog around Lahore even in June travelling on M2 Motorway, wondering about the cause of smog in summer.

At the same time, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz reiterated her call for climate diplomacy with India to tackle the worsening issue of smog on both sides of the border.

The Punjab Assembly also took up the issue yesterday, where opposition members sought one more day to prepare for a “meaningful debate on the matter”.

Last week, Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb called on Lahore residents of Lahore to “declare war on smog”, stressing that it could take eight to 10 years to overcome the issue through dedicated individual and collective efforts.