Pakistan prolongs school closures in smog-blanketed Punjab cities

On Friday, Pakistan’s most populous province, Punjab, announced a one-week extension of school closures in major cities affected by heavy smog. Thousands have been hospitalized as the country grapples with record levels of air pollution, News.Az reports citing foreign media.

The province last week closed all schools until November 17 in major cities enveloped by smog.

Air quality in Lahore was deemed “hazardous,” according to data by IQAir, with the concentration of deadly PM2.5 pollutants, around 30 times the level deemed acceptable by the World Health Organization.

“Schools will remain closed for another week due to the hazardous air quality. Institutes including universities would switch to online classes to ensure the safety of students,” Marriyum Aurangzeb, Punjab’s environment minister, told a news conference.

“More than 35,000 patients have been reported in the hospitals of Lahore due to smog-related health issues in almost a month,” Aurangzeb said.

Children are often hardest hit, with Unicef noting that “prior to these record-breaking levels of air pollution, about 12% of deaths in children under five in Pakistan were due to air pollution.”

The UN’s food agency says transport is the main cause of air pollution in Pakistan, followed by industry and agriculture.

Tuk-tuks equipped with polluting two-stroke engines have been banned, as are restaurants that barbecue without filters, while building construction has been halted.

A mix of low-grade fuel emissions from factories and vehicles, exacerbated by seasonal crop burn-off by farmers, blanket the city each winter.

Government offices and private companies had half their staff work from home this week.

News.Az