Dealing with smog challenge

As air quality, especially in Lahore, remains at hazardous levels the PML-Q, a coalition partner of the ruling PTI - organized a party conference on "Clean, Transparent and Green Punjab". In his address to the conference on Friday Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi claimed the provincial government was taking concrete measures to eliminate smog once and for all. Though the only tangible measure, still in the form of a proposal, was about preventing farmers from burning rice crop stubble - a significant contributor to smog. He said a Korean company has come up with a plan to deal with this challenge in an effective manner. Farmers will be offered compensation for not burning the stubble. Stubble will be used for producing gas to be provided to domestic and industrial consumers at a cheap rate. The government is expected to go ahead with the proposal. It is important to note that the government in Indian Punjab has recently embarked on a plan to make payments as compensation to those farmers who have not burnt paddy straw.

Stubble burning is only one cause of smog, however. There are multiple other reasons, some of them more difficult to control than the others. The focus so far has been on the extra visible ones: stubble burning and brick kilns. Despite agriculture department's advisories and efforts this year, stubble burning did not stop. The heavy smoke-emitting brick kilns have been told to either install zigzag technology or stay shut during the smog season. Not all have complied with the order. Even more serious is industrial and vehicular pollution that plagues cities all over the country. Most industries flout their environmental responsibilities with impunity. Then there is no system in place to check vehicular emissions. If that is not bad enough, all vehicles run on substandard quality of gasoline. This has gone on despite the efforts the two previous governments made to have the oil refineries upgrade their plants to international standards. Things are unlikely to change for the better unless the government gets tough with the culprits or offers them some incentives.

Reassuring in this worrisome scenario is Prime Minister Imran Khan's unwavering focus on combating environmental pollution. Earlier this month, he held a press conference in Lahore solely on this issue. He announced several measures for ridding the plains of Punjab of smog in particular and pollution in general. These included the decision to allow the sale of only high grade Euro-4 premium motor gasoline, and within a year to raise the standard to Euro-5; giving oil refineries three years to upgrade their plants to Euro 4 and five emission standards; popularizing electric vehicles and making all buses either hybrid, eclectic or CNG fueled; import of machinery for stubble removal; provision of assistance to brick kiln owners for switching over to zigzag technology; and helping steel mills to buy scrubbers at affordable rates with concession on duties. The PM also said that Lahore, the country's worst polluted city, will have urban forests spread over 60,000 kanals of public land. Considering his commitment to cleaner environment, he can be trusted to translate all these measures into action.