Nothing showed the fecklessness of the Punjab caretaker government than its dillydallying over the smog. If they had held elections on time, they would have gone home in April, long before the current smog set in. The Environment Minister, Muhammad Rizwan, has served as a PML(N) MPA during the 2008-2013 Assembly, but his presence did nothing to mitigate the problem. The lack of preparation should not have occurred, for laws exist and merely need political will to be executed. The Minister instead followed a policy of masterly inactivity, and it is the Education Department which seems to have shown more initiative by cancelling school.
The problem has three inputs. The first is the expulsion into the atmosphere of harmful pollutants by motor vehicles. Then comes the burning of coal by industry as well as for power generation, not to mention the abundance of harmful gases released into the atmosphere because of industrial activity. And last but by no means least, the burning of stubble of the Kharif crop in preparation for sowing the Rabi crop. All of this unholy mixture combines with the weather and combines to produce a smog which not only obscures the vision, but which irritates the eyes and throat, causing a proliferation of the seasonal colds and flus rife at this time of year.
This smog has become one of the recurring realities of life, and it is incumbent on all the parties hoping to form the government to formulate in advance measures to tackle the problem. The new provincial government will take office sometime at the end of February or beginning of May, if elections are held on February 8. However, if it says self-satisfiedly to itself that winter (20240) is several months away, it will fail to take the measures that might have an effect by smog season. While stubble burning can only be combated after Rabi, vehicular and industrial pollution need a longer lead time to have any effect on weather conditions. The expertise exists within the Punjab government, which has an Environmental Protection Department, but it needs political will for the government to order that it act as the lead department in drafting a working plan, and for the next government to implement it. But that does seem to be part of the priorities of this government.
