Lahore has been rated the most polluted city in the world with an Air Quality Index (AQI) touching 500 and more. That means the very act of taking breath in this city is hazardous to health, and Karachi is not far behind on the scale.
It is such a sad state of affairs that even the Punjab government has taken note of matters as they stand and declared the situation to be a crisis. Unfortunately, that is all it seems to have done so far.
Of course, it is not just the air one breathes that is hazardous to health in this country, it is also the water one drinks and several other things including the traffic on the roads, all things that one encounters every day and cannot stay away from.
The major reasons behind the pollution are the fuels that are burnt in factories (plastics are used as fuel by some), and the amount of pollution being spewed into the air by the many brick kilns. The major factor, however, has to be the fumes emitted by vehicles on the roads, and of course the crop burning that takes place in the Punjab, the agricultural giant of Pakistan– and therefore one of its greatest polluters.
Unless these matters are tackled and brought to an end, Pakistan might make a few dazzling malls, it might have become a nuclear power, it might posture and try to figure as a voice to be reckoned with in various matters; but this is no progress, and with this alone Pakistan will never amount to more than what it is at present, and that is nothing much at all
This ‘crop burning’ takes place after a crop is harvested and the stubble is left behind in the fields. This stubble can be removed by machine, or by hand, or it can be allowed to remain where it is. Removing it by hand is obviously not an easy process. If the stubble is allowed to remain where it is, it disintegrates in time into the soil, in the process returning some nutrients for the following crop. This is the easiest and cheapest solution, and the one that gives the best results. The third solution is to turn the soil by machine to bury the stubble back into the soil – a process that would again put back some nutrients. But this is an expensive process.If this option is selected, machines exist that can make it happen, some cheaper than others, yet still too expensive for the average farmer. This is where the government can step in and provide these machines to do the job at a subsidized rate where required.
It is obvious that farmers in Pakistan lack the information to do their job effectively, they are unaware of the pros and cons of the various measures, and unable to evaluate their options, so they generally choose to burn the stubble, causing a blanket of carbon-laden smoke to cover the region, which coupled with the other pollutants in the air is responsible for our elevated AQ Index. This is another place where the government can step in; indeed it must, to ensure that farmers are educated in the best way of doing their job… not by those with an interest in selling their products, but by means of some genuine trainers in the field. They must also ensure that crop burning is brought to an end, by penalising all who attempt to do so, without discrimination.
There are some factors that have always prevented this country from making much progress, and will always prevent it from doing so, as long as they exist. One is the habit of invariably pointing a finger at someone else, and ignoring one’s own role in any given problem. It pleases the people of this country therefore to point a finger at India, which shares this practice of crop burning, despite all arguments indicating our equal share in the problem. It has been pointed out that the wind direction almost throughout the year is north to south, at other times it is west to east. It is only for a short time every year that winds come from India in the East to Pakistan in the West, and yet, judging by the comments in any article and column in the newspaper, everything is always India’s fault, or the fault of the political party other than one’s favoured one, or the fault of some mysterious Western mafia.
The other roadblock in the way of progress is the tendency of the wealthier classes to use their power and money to exempt themselves from all rules by greasing relevant palms. Seeing that it is this class that owns the most land, and this class that owns the most kilns, factories and cars, it is easy to see what this argument refers to and where it leads. The habit of accepting pay-offs pervades every aspect of society, at every level.
Unless these matters are tackled and brought to an end, Pakistan might make a few dazzling malls, it might have become a nuclear power, it might posture and try to figure as a voice to be reckoned with in various matters; but this is no progress, and with this alone Pakistan will never amount to more than what it is at present, and that is nothing much at all.
One of the actions that could make a difference is take stock of those in control, and since this is about the environment, it is an idea to look at the people in charge there.
The person in charge of the environment, who has been in charge for a while now, is another one who considers India predominantly responsible for the smog in the region, and what is far more incredible, has been reported as saying that the smog is fake news, spread by those with vested interests.
She is not alone in being ill-equipped or uninterested in the job that has been entrusted to her.
