Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city, has once again led the daily list of the world’s most polluted cities, forcing authorities to scramble to combat the environmental disaster.
According to IQAir, a global environmental think-tank, the eastern city’s air quality was reported as 296, making it the world’s most polluted city on Friday.
In November, Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province and home to over 11 million people, surpassed New Delhi as the world’s most polluted city on multiple occasions.
The province’s cities have recently been blanketed in a heavy blanket of white smog.
“We have sealed over 500 industrial units and imposed heavy fines on smoke emitting vehicles and brick kilns,” said Amir Farooq, the official in charge of fighting pollution in Punjab.
“Air pollution in Lahore is nothing but a failure of the government,” environmental lawyer Ahmad Rafay Alam said.
According to Alam, the city produces the same amount of pollution every day of the year, and government agencies’ actions during the winter season are nothing more than a “panic response.”
Industrial emissions, smoke from brick kilns and cars, crop residue burning, and general rubbish burning are all blamed by Pakistani officials for air pollution and smog in Lahore.
Pakistan is one of the top ten most climate-vulnerable countries while contributing less than 1% of global carbon emissions.
The nation began a four-year initiative in 2019 to plant 10 billion trees by 2023. The project’s budget has surpassed one billion dollars.
