A cyclist rides along a road engulfed in thick smog in Lahore on November 11, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

The United Nation’s children’s agency on Monday (November 11, 2024) warned that the health of 11 million children in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province is in danger because of air pollution that experts say has become a fifth season in recent years.

Also read: Pakistan bans entry to parks, zoos as air pollution worsens

Toxic smog has shrouded Pakistan’s cultural capital of Lahore and 17 other districts in Punjab since last month. Health officials say more than 40,000 people have been treated for respiratory ailments.

UNICEF warns of ‘devastating effects’

UNICEF’s representative in Pakistan, Abdullah Fadil, in a statement urged the government to make urgent and greater efforts to reduce air pollution for the 11 million affected children under the age of 5 and others.

“Prior to these record-breaking levels of air pollution, about 12 per cent of deaths in children under 5 in Pakistan were due to air pollution,” Fadil said. “The impact of this year’s extraordinary smog will take time to assess, but we know that doubling and tripling the amount of pollution in the air will have devastating effects, particularly on children and pregnant women.”

Schools closed till Nov. 17

Pakistan has shut schools until November 17 in parts of Punjab as part of measures aimed at protecting children’s health. Authorities on Friday ordered the closure of all parks and museums for 10 days, and they have been urging people to avoid unnecessary travel.

According to the Environmental Protection Department in Punjab, Multan remained the most polluted city on Monday, with air quality index readings of about 800. Anything over 300 is considered hazardous to health.

Though the government has ordered the mandatory wearing of face masks, that has been widely disregarded. The government has also said it was looking into methods to induce artificial rainfall to combat the pollution.

Smog which enveloped an area of the city reduces visibility, in Lahore, Pakistan.
| Photo Credit: AP

Pakistan’s Punjab banned entry to many public spaces from Friday (November 8, 2024), including parks and zoos, as it sought to protect people from severe air pollution in parts of the eastern province.

Also Read: Pakistan blames India for worsening smog in Lahore as air quality index hits record high

The provincial capital Lahore has been engulfed in a thick, smoky haze this week and was consistently rated the world’s most polluted city by Swiss group IQAir in its live rankings, prompting the closure of schools and work-from-home mandates.

The Punjab government’s Friday (November 8) order placed a “complete ban on public entry in all parks … zoos, playgrounds, historical places, monuments, museums and joy/playlands” until November 17 in areas including Lahore.

Many parts of South Asia suffer severe pollution as temperatures drop each winter and cold, heavy air traps dust, emissions, and smoke from stubble burning – the illegal practice of burning crop waste to quickly clear fields.

Punjab last week blamed toxic air wafting in from neighbouring India – where air quality has also reached hazardous levels – for the particularly high pollution this year.

IQAir rated New Delhi the world’s second most polluted city on Friday, with government data indicating that farm fires in the neighbouring farming states of Punjab and Haryana were among the major contributors.

To discourage the practice which has been lower this year, India doubled fines imposed on violators on Wednesday.