Smog, now being termed as the fifth season of Pakistan, has once again hit the most vulnerable cities of Pakistan and is expected to proliferate to other cities as well.
According to the data revealed by Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI), the smog season has started in Lahore and is moving towards Faisalabad.
However, the twin cities, i.e., Rawalpindi and Islamabad are safe from this airport smokers’ lounge situation.
As per the details, PAQI’s city ranking from October 1 to 18 has termed Lahore as the most polluted city in the country. As for the quality of air, Lahore has 183 PAQI index value that makes its air the unhealthiest.
Faisalabad stands as the city with second-most unhealthiest air, having the index value of 177.
Both the cities have exceeded the safe limits, containing hazardous air pollution.
The air quality of Karachi is also not so good as its air is characterized with 120 index value. However, it is still better than Lahore and Faisalabad, as its air is unhealthy for sensitive groups rather than being detrimental to all individuals.
As for the air quality in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, both are characterized as moderate having the index value of 98 and 95 respectively.
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Smog: A Crisis in Pakistan
In the last few months every year, the atmosphere in all the major cities of Pakistan becomes lethal for their inhabitants. As per statistics, around 135,000 Pakistanis die every year all due to smog or air pollution.
Not only does the smog become a public health emergency every year, but it also reduces a person’s life expectancy by five years.
The country also loses 5.88 percent of its GDP to the smog annually, which is $47.8 billion. Poor air quality causes severe health issues including lung and heart diseases and respiratory failures.
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Moreover, Pakistan stands third in the list of countries having a large number of pollution-related deaths. According to Senator Sherry Rehman, Pakistanis are more vulnerable to death from poor air quality than at the hand of the armed terrorists.
Punjab government is trying hard to tackle this crisis; however, there is still a lot more to do in this field.
