Pakistan - The smog challenge

Munir Ahmed










Punjab has been deeply gripped by smog, leaving extremely low visibility in most parts of the province. Similar situation is being reported from Karachi. Even the smog phenomenon travels from central Punjab to the federal capital Islamabad as well, leaving us to believe that trans-boundary phenomena affect everyone across the geographic limits. How the wrong doings of one not only impact him but others too. The atmospheric smog in Punjab province has disrupted life and health of millions, besides claiming lives of many by causing accidents, asthma and eye infections. Many flights have been cancelled due to insufficient visibility.

Daily Times correspondent Humaira Saeed has reported that the Punjab government has hurriedly drafted a smog control policy that is not more than eyewash. The policy was prepared in consultation with the Environmental Protection Council (EPC) headed by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and featuring 35 leading environmental experts on its board. These experts were responsible for providing expertise and advice on policy formation. And they stated that the policy was hastily drawn out without proper consultation with the stakeholders as well as experts as they were given only a two-day notice to make themselves available for the meeting where the draft was to be reviewed. Resultantly, many members on the council were unable to attend the meeting to review the draft. So, the half cooked policy is on for its mere implementation. I doubt it would deliver the desired results.

We are good at making policies while our implementation mechanisms are simply the worst. Environmental pollution cannot be controlled until the pollution watchdogs — the environmental protection agencies are working under government and any senior officer in the environmental watchdogs can influence or manoeuvre the implementation of the policy. Same is the case with the smog phenomenon. The people are suffering from it for years now. Simply, it is not only a local phenomenon now rather it has spread over the region and a trans-boundary challenge caused by the atmospheric pollutants or gases that are released in the air when the fuels are burnt. When sunlight and its heat react with these gases and fine particles in the atmosphere, smog is formed. It is purely caused by air pollution.

It is not only the smog that the people of Punjab are trapped in because of the unwise and irrational decisions. The other biggest pollutants in Punjab include the unchecked vehicular pollution, environmental unfriendly industry, untreated industrial waste, sewage and solid waste (mis)management

The Punjab smog control policy could be a reasonable framework if it had included input from the relevant experts. Strangely, no step has been taken over the years to reduce air pollution in the province. We bought and installed the coal-fired power plants in Punjab and other parts of the country that have intensified the problem. The situation would worsen in the days to come resulting in health issues including respiratory and eye infections. I strongly believe that the Punjab government in controlling the smog in the province.

We are unfortunate neighbour of the two mega polluters, China and India. On the other hand, we are blind-folded with the bids of economic cooperation from China that is very vital for our economic growth. But our choices has been unwise especially when it comes to the kind of machinery we are importing from China and other countries is neither energy-efficient nor environment friendly. No environmental experts were taken on board to make environment unfriendly decisions. They should not be taken or consulted even now when we are severely gripped by the air pollutants.

It is not only the smog that the people of Punjab are trapped in because of the unwise and irrational decisions. The other biggest pollutants in Punjab include the unchecked vehicular pollution, and environmental unfriendly industry, untreated industrial waste, sewage and solid waste management. The solid waste management company, a Turkish enterprise, has turned to be another white elephant for Lahore.

If the government is interested in controlling smog, it has to vigorously act to control air pollution by taking stringent steps to monitor the air quality. It should set an example by developing a well-equipped independent EPA staffed with the independent experts that shall be answerable to the parliament only, not to the provincial government. The authorities need to review another strange decision to close down the power plants being run with furnace oil and other fossil fuels. Interestingly, there is no check on the coal-fired power plants that would turn to be a big source for the atmospheric pollution and disastrous for the human health and other living creatures.

The new decision of the government to control the smog by shutting down the furnace-oil-run power plants is itself ‘smogged’. It would serve to further disturb the supply of electricity to the households, educational institutions and businesses. It would increase the fossil fuel consumption by the electricity generators installed by individuals, offices and businesses. The decision turned to be ‘penny wise, pound foolish’. Still, the authorities need a reality check in consultation with the relevant experts to check and control the atmospheric smog as well as the geopolitical and the strategic ones.