With clean air a rarity in Punjab, simple solutions go ignored
The eastern Pakistani city of Lahore has now achieved the dubious distinction of being the most polluted city in the world, albeit for a few hours.
It held this position for some time on Tuesday with an average concentration of 389 particles in a single cubic meter of air on the World Air Quality Index (AQI) - a universally accepted standard of measuring air quality in the world, and used to provide information and data for policy-makers to intervene.
Every year, starting late November toward the end of January, vehicular traffic on motorways and intercity roads face delays, slow movement and occasionally, complete closure due to an insidious layer of thick smog that descends into most of Punjab province.
Living in Lahore, even in the city’s poshest areas and with the windows closed, it is easy to spot a fine layer of singe on table-tops and furniture.
But the problem is not limited just to the cities. The rural areas of Pakistan, especially around major population centers, have also witnessed the rapid deterioration of air quality. This air pollution is now visible, and one can feel one’s eyes hurting when exposed. Close to winter, the fine particulate matter hanging around the air becomes so dense that visibility beyond a few yards is difficult.
It is not hard to imagine what happens to the human body breathing this air. Millions of people die prematurely due to bad air quality, and tens of millions of children and old people get sick routinely. In Pakistan, the cities of Karachi and Lahore, as well as the plains of the Punjab, suffer from the worst air quality, and have done so for the past few decades.
And still, the attitude of Pakistan’s bureaucracy and political class has been indifferent, with complete apathy and lack of will towards addressing the major causes of air pollution in the country.
Sadly, governments in Pakistan, present and past, have failed to take any necessary measures though there are things than can be easily done, and only require instruments of law and governance, with the possibility of good results in a short period of time.
For one, there are prevalent practices that can be ended without much investment of money or technology, and which can drastically improve the quality of the air we breathe.
Sadly, governments in Pakistan, present and past, have failed to take any necessary measures though there are things than can be easily done, and only require instruments of law and governance, with the possibility of good results in a short period of time.
Rasul Bakhsh Rais
The first is crop burning, especially in the rice-growing areas of central Punjab. Gone are the times when farmers would cut the entire crop to separate the grains from the stubs manually. Mechanical harvesters now do the job by cutting the top off, but leaving the stubs in the field.
Right now, it is time to reap the rice crop. With little time between now and the sowing of the wheat crop in early November, simply burning the standing stubs is convenient, free and simple for farmers, while completely disregarding the havoc this wreaks on the environment.
The Punjab government had earlier announced that this year, it would not allow the practice to occur, but while traveling from Bahawalnagar in southeastern Punjab to Lahore, I witnessed crop burning taking place openly over the weekend, even as the AQI shows hazardous, potentially life-threatening levels of pollution in the area.
There is a solution, and all it requires is a little bit of imagination and work. Farmers could employ reapers, collect the crop residue, bundle it into compact bails and sell it to paper and cardboard factories. Manually harvested rice crop remains are routinely sold to these factories where there is a big demand. All this is simply a question of enforcing rules, educating farmers, and presenting them with an alternative.
Secondly, garbage burning in villages and towns is another common practice, ongoing since consumerism became widespread a couple of decades ago. It is a common scene in Pakistan- people sweep the front of their houses or shops, make a little heap of garbage and light it on fire.
There are hardly any law or administrative personnel to prevent garbage burning but there is a solution that can generate revenues for town and city governments. Municipal and county councils in industrialized states are selling garbage to power producing companies that use it as fuel. This is something that Pakistan and other developing countries should consider.
Lastly, industrial and vehicular smoke is a huge challenge for Pakistan. Car culture is likely to stay on and increase if governments don’t provide effective public transport.
Pakistan can learn from other countries in regulating industries and force these companies to adopt technologies and standards that improve air quality. Among so many national challenges, it seems that clean air to breathe, perhaps the most basal human need, is nowhere near the radar of our governments.
– Rasul Bakhsh Rais is Professor of Political Science in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, LUMS, Lahore. His latest book is “Islam, Ethnicity and Power Politics: Constructing Pakistan’s National Identity” (Oxford University Press, 2017).
Twitter: @RasulRais
