Senior Provincial Ministers Maryam Aurangzeb and Information Minister of Punjab, Azma Bukhari have blamed Lahore’s smog and poor Air Quality Index (AQI) on Diwali celebrations in India’s capital Delhi.
Maryam Aurangzeb explained that the recent surge in smog levels was a result of ‘Diwali’ celebrations in India, which raised the levels of polluted particles in the air the direction of which was towards Lahore as the wind blew.
She went ahead to add that the smog levels in Lahore have hit 238 which gives an average of the largest smog levels achieved even with the initiatives taken over the course of the previous 8 months in Punjab to solve this challenge including electric bike campaigns and strict vehicle fitness actions among other activities.
Call for regional climate diplomacy to combat smog in Lahore
Maryam further pointed out that these efforts are just a fraction of the whole. “Smog calls for global or at least regional climate diplomacy to resolve,” she said, likening the theory of smog in Lahore to the 26 years of battle carried out by the people of Beijing over the quality of air where air quality management yielded more than polluted cities in the world recently.
Therefore, she advised that they take caution and wear masks as well as avoid going outside for long hours.
More specifically, Azma Bukhari, supported these views, adding during a press conference that the problem of smog in Lahore is made even worse owing to the pollution control of India.
She also said that Maryam Nawaz would resolve the issue through a letter addressed to the Chief Minister of Punjab, India. Bukhari also made some reference to the school timetable in Lahore, explaining that there is not yet any resolution on the issue of school closure.
