Lahore and many other cities of Punjab barely breathe under this thick blanket of smog that<\/p>\n\n\n\n
descends upon the city every winter since November 2016. For the past years, the second<\/p>\n\n\n\n
most populated city of Pakistan seems to be residing in a smoker\u2019s lounge with the citizens<\/p>\n\n\n\n
immersed in soot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The heart of Pakistan is especially suffering due to the soot, smoke, and industrial pollutants<\/p>\n\n\n\n
present in the air, which from the onset of winters combine with fog to produce this deadly<\/p>\n\n\n\n
outcome known to all as Smog. The infinite growth of mechanization and industrialization,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
vehicular exhaust, and the burning of domestic and agricultural waste has rewarded the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
people of Lahore with this poisonous atmosphere. Lack of trees, continuous deforestation,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and the use of cheap fuels in agricultural equipment has also led to this highly toxic<\/p>\n\n\n\n
environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smog has become a typical issue for the 11 million residents of Lahore who have to endure it<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to complete their daily tasks. Lahore\u2019s air quality has been declared as one of the most toxic<\/p>\n\n\n\n
in the world at 192 AQI (Data from 2021). The smog in Lahore impacts the residents in a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
deep perilous way by putting the people at high risk of lung diseases. The senior citizens of<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lahore are living a life of discomfort as smog adds to their already present heart and lung<\/p>\n\n\n\n
issues. An outbreak of diseases has occurred such as asthma, skin, and ENT allergies which<\/p>\n\n\n\n
are affecting both the youth and the elderly. If not checked, smog may leave irreversible<\/p>\n\n\n\n
consequences on the population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smog is a recurring contamination that the people and government of Pakistan have to face<\/p>\n\n\n\n
until continuous and efficient efforts are done to reduce this haze. The government needs to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
set up strict laws for these environmental issues and hazards. Identifying and eliminating sources of air pollution such as exhaust gases is a necessary step that needs to be taken before others to get a fruitful result. Certain modifications are needed to minimise pollution while keeping everything in order. Introducing carbon absorbers, condensers, and purifiers on wide level and promoting the sale of these products by providing them at subsidized rates<\/p>\n\n\n\n
will be a constructive course of action. Promoting recycling and reusing, setting up recycling<\/p>\n\n\n\n
factories, and using recycled materials on a large scale will be an initiative that will lead to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the elimination of any further problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although blames on India for air pollution and complete denial of the matter have been on<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the news for long but now the government has started to be cognizant of the fact that<\/p>\n\n\n\n
immediate measures might be the long-term solution to smog. The past government of<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pakistan has paid heed to the issue by initiating the Billion Trees Project which has been<\/p>\n\n\n\n
executed successfully but is still under process. According to government officials 1.5 billion<\/p>\n\n\n\n
trees have been planted yet. The Ministry of Climate Change (MOCC) announced a revised<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pakistan Clean Air Plan (PCAP) on The World Environment Day 2021; the plan funded<\/p>\n\n\n\n
technical assistance on strengthening knowledge and actions for air quality improvements<\/p>\n\n\n\n
alongside various measures to prohibit the emission of harmful gases from vehicles,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
industries, etc. The plan further addressed the banning of 2-stroke vehicles (motorcycles),<\/p>\n\n\n\n
which consume more fuel than 4-stroke vehicles consequently producing an increased<\/p>\n\n\n\n
amount of carbon emissions in the air, from major cities of Pakistan such as Lahore. The plan<\/p>\n\n\n\n
was approved by the council but bringing about this large shift in vehicles keeping in mind he<\/p>\n\n\n\n
financial situation of the people that use 2-stroke vehicles was a bit of a challenge for the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MOCC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A long-term, sustainable solution will require a massive switch in government policies with<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the private sector playing its part too. The private sector needs to shift to more environment-friendly policies and equipment. A massive switch, initiated by private companies, to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
renewable energy sources such as operating solar panels will be a successful turn of events<\/p>\n\n\n\n
that will reduce the use of fuels hence decreasing air pollution. Influential companies that are<\/p>\n\n\n\n
popular among teens such as the numerous clothing brands eg Outfitters, Khaadi, etc. if they<\/p>\n\n\n\n
start holding awareness campaigns about a healthier atmosphere by manufacturing products<\/p>\n\n\n\n
promoting a greener environment then a larger audience can get mindful of the bleak future<\/p>\n\n\n\n
that might descend upon us if it is not checked now. The private sector can also finance<\/p>\n\n\n\n
research and academic partnerships to enhance technologies and equipment which are used<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to prevent air pollution such as carbon absorbers and catalytic converters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All these measures if done efficaciously will improve the air quality and the health of the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
citizens. If further procrastination is done on the matter this cultural capital of Pakistan and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
its inhabitants will likely suffer more than anticipated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lahore and many other cities of Punjab barely breathe under this thick blanket of smog that descends upon the city every winter since November 2016. For the past years, the second most populated city of Pakistan seems to be residing in a smoker\u2019s lounge with the citizens immersed in soot. The heart of Pakistan is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"relative_dates":{"created":"5 years ago","modified":"3 years ago"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/times.kaizenhighschool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/times.kaizenhighschool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/times.kaizenhighschool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/times.kaizenhighschool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/times.kaizenhighschool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/times.kaizenhighschool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":308,"href":"https:\/\/times.kaizenhighschool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions\/308"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/times.kaizenhighschool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/times.kaizenhighschool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/times.kaizenhighschool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/times.kaizenhighschool.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}