LAHORE: Moderate smoke has begun to develop in Lahore due to the decrease in the minimum temperature, humidity and calm wind at night that allows contributing pollutants, mainly generated by Indian farmers in Punjab by burning massive crop residues , penetrate the border areas.
"We have already taken adequate measures to avoid local contributions to the smog, and we are ready to combat those of the Indian Punjab," Environment Protection Secretary Salman Ejaz said Wednesday.
He contradicted reports suggesting the development of dangerous level smog in Lahore. "This is false since our authentic data shows much lower levels that are not yet dangerous," he said.
The chief meteorologist in Lahore Sahibzad Khan said there was no smog. It was simply smoke and fog, he said, indicating possibilities of rain and strong west winds on Saturdays and Sundays.
This would provide relief, although temporary, against smog or whatever, he said.
The human rights group Amnesty International said earlier that the air quality index in Lahore had reached 484 at 10 a.m., adding that the threshold for the dangerous level of air quality was 300.
He blamed the Punjab government for exposing people to dangerous air hazards in violation of their human rights to life and health.
On Wednesday morning Smog was seen in the surrounding areas of Lahore and in the south along the canal.
The turbidity and irritation of the nose and eyes was a clear indication of the beginning of the phenomenon that is bothering Lahore and other cities in Punjab in October and November in recent years.
It is claimed that the main cause is the burning of crop residues mainly by Indian farmers in Punjab. The smog that develops as a result causes the worst conditions that threaten health on the Indian side to Delhi.
The observatory of the Department of Environmental Protection (EPD) at the Jail Road observatory of the Met department on Wednesday recorded 128 AQI (Air Quality Index) at 12.50 p.m.
The AQI in Wagah was 280. According to the smog policy of the EPD, the AQI that ranges between 101 and 200 indicates mild air pollution, 200 to 300 moderate and 400 to 500 dangerous.
Salman Ejaz said that Punjab did not witness the contamination for most of the current month due to extended monsoons and some strong western weather systems that pushed pollutants from Indian Punjab fields back.
“NASA satellite images show huge crop residues burning in the eastern cities of Punjab, Amritsar and Jalandhar. The local contribution is 20 percent. And we are not having a total impact of smog that causes pollutants from the Indian side due to (favorable) wind direction, ”he said.
Posted on Dawn, October 31, 2019
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1513953/smog-blamed-on-indian-farmers-begins-to-hit-lahore