Lahore, smog and a lot of ‘ostriches’

The air quality in Lahore is getting worse with every passing year, with the city perpetually topping the list of most polluted cities around the globe. The response from the relevant authorities, however, is marked by procrastination. For some strange reason that is beyond comprehension, they prefer to wait and watch, hoping that things would improve on their own. It is the famed ostrich approach that often characterises official policies. The manner in which, and the pace at which, things are going south suggests Lahore is in the grip of a lot of ostriches. It really is.
The city, home to nearly 14 million people, is suffering and suffocating on many a front, like overpopulation and mass urbanisation. All such reasons add to the increasing environmental pollution in the provincial capital. Fine particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) readings should worry the authorities, but all they do is to hope that the winter will pass and they will have no smog to deal with during the rest of the year. PM2.5 relates to tiny particles or droplets made of liquid-cum-gases that are up to 2.5 microns in width; there being 25,000 microns in an inch. These particles travel deeply into the respiratory tract with every breath, reaching the lungs and causing all sorts of respiratory issues. Even masks are unable to protect one from inhaling such tiny particles. There needs to be an environmental emergency imposed across the province to control the menace of smog, but all we have is closure of schools; a decision that is surely protective, but does nothing to control the causative factors. Lahore, the provincial capital that is the first choice of people across Punjab, especially when it comes to higher studies and livelihoods, deserves to be accorded due priority when the city is struggling to even breathe.
ZUNAIRA SABIR
LAHORE