Choking smog may also shut Punjab factories

Particulate matter causing road accidents and eye, throat infections

LAHORE: The Punjab government says it may have to temporarily shut factories — particularly furnaces and brick kilns — as a persistent spell of dense toxic smog continues to choke parts of Punjab, particularly its provincial capital, causing deadly road crashes, skin allergies and other infections.

Environmental experts are attributing the thick smog to growing air pollution, industrial emissions in particular, but images said to be from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration making rounds on social media show the colossal amount of toxic fumes are rolling into Pakistani atmosphere from Indian Punjab.



Farmers in Indian Punjab and Haryana have been setting fire to paddy stubble in their fields after harvesting the crop as part of the slash and burn. This is adding to the particulate matter which is unexpected to dissipate anytime soon.

According to the Pakistan Met Office, the smog will continue to remain a problem until the first rainfall of this winter, which again is unlikely until the end of this month. But chief meteorologist Muhammad Riaz says the smoggy weather condition may prevail in December too.

Khawaja Salman Rafiq, adviser to the Punjab chief minister, told BBC Urdu that if the smog persists, the government would have to consider shutting factories, particularly furnaces and brick kilns. “The government may announce temporary closure of schools to prevent vulnerable children from toxic smog,” he added

However, he claimed that the smog situation has improved considerably compared to November 1 and 2. He admitted that the particulate matter was engulfing other districts of the province. “The smog is now also covering Toba Tek Singh.”

Khawaja Salman also lent credence to media reports that the smog and particulate pollution was originating from India. He clarified that burning of paddy stubble in both halves of Punjab contributed to the already brittle situation. “The particulate matter is clearly visible in the air,” he added.

According to sources, smog has caused scores of road crashes in all 36 districts of Punjab over the past couple of days in which 20 people have been killed and hundreds wounded.



About the health effects of the poisonous smog, Khawaja Salman said that based on the statistics compiled by the provincial health department and hospitals, the situation was not worrisome.

“I am constantly in touch with hospitals,” he said. “A couple of days ago, there were reports of eye infection/irritation, but the number of cases have now gone down.”

“People (in urban areas) must take precautionary measures … And authorities concerned have been told to act swiftly to deal with accidents on the motorways and other major highways,” he added.

He said that four days ago, a committee had been formed to deal with the situation, which included experts from Met Office, health and environment departments as well as representatives from rapid response services, including 1122 and traffic police. The committee, he said, was overseeing the situation on a day-to-day basis.

Meanwhile, stocks of face masks and artificial tears are running out in Lahore because of an unprecedented demand for protective accessories to counter eye and throat infections.

A number of citizens, especially motorcyclists, are complaining that disposable face masks and eye drops have disappeared from the shelves of most medical stores and pharmacies. The asking price for the items has also witnessed a sharp rise.

Complaining about the shortage and price hike, Muhammad Mukhtar said the green-coloured mask, which generally sells for Rs3 in normal days, was selling for up to Rs20 depending on the store’s location and the physical appearance of the buyer.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th, 2016.