In the News
February 12, 2019
After significant rainfall at the end of January, Lahoris are breathing, quite literally, a sigh of relief having braved the worst of the smog season.
The smog season is now a routine affair in the provincial metropolis, when a thick layer of pollution envelopes the city from October to January. The episodes of smog in 2016, 2017 and 2018 have come and gone with little being done to fight it.
The general understanding appears to be that unless visibility is low, your eyes are inflamed, you can smell diesel fumes and everyone you know has a cough, you can conclude that the air is clean.
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The University of Chicago’s Air-Quality Life Index calculates that citizens of Lahore would gain 5.1 years of life expectancy if the World Health Organisation air quality guidelines are met.
If Punjab is to be successful in its fight against smog and poor air quality, it will need an evidence-based policy approach, rather than perform a set of superficial tasks like issuing notices to a few individuals or blaming the toxic air on India.