EDITORIAL: Pakistan seems destined to stay right at the top of the world pollution pyramid, ending 2023 as the second most polluted country in the world. Lahore, the so-called cultural capital of the nation, finished the year as the fifth most polluted city and the most polluted mega city with levels at 99.5 micrograms per cubic meter, which is 20 times more than WHO (World Health Organization) guidelines, according to the 2023 World Air Quality Report published by IQAir, a Swiss air monitoring organisation.
This is not surprising, but it is still very shocking. Pakistan has been at or around the top of this list for many years now, with Lahore often counting as the most polluted city in the world, especially in smog season. Yet, just like climate change, which continues to harm the country’s infrastructure and economy, this problem is also going unaddressed.
The best any authority did was the Punjab government ordering the province to be shut down at 10pm every night, to reduce movement, vehicle use, and power consumption. But, as we have seen with the report, it doesn’t seem to have helped matters much.
Ordinary people, meantime, continue to suffer because of the government’s incompetence and inaction. Hazardous air quality is already resulting in a life expectancy loss of 4.4 years. Other health issues include chest infections, lung cancer, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. The poor air quality also makes other non-communicable diseases such as strokes, mental health issues and diabetes more likely. Issues relating to fertility and cognitive development of children are also coming up.
Yet the worst part of the problem is that the government is still clueless about dealing with it. This is precisely what happens when the ruling class, completely consumed with its own lust for power and privilege, is so disconnected from the people it claims to represent.
We have environmental protection departments in all provinces and a ministry for climate change and environmental coordination in the centre, yet here we are, the second most polluted country in the world and nobody has so much as a vague plan to do something about it.
The government needs to realise that such issues can never be overcome without raising public awareness. And that requires authorities to put together a comprehensive, overarching national narrative that bombards ordinary people with information about what is right and what must not be done if we are to live normal lives like normal people in a normal environment.
Also, while we are ourselves to blame for the pollution we must now live with. It’s a shame that we have to do it at a time when Pakistan is one of the top targets of the effects of climate change, which is not our fault in any way.
But it is what it is. And the urgency only means that those in power have little time to manufacture the narrative they are going to desperately need if this problem is to be overcome. Otherwise, it’s not just the economy and security that can be our undoing at any time, it is also our own environment.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024