LAHORE: Schoolchildren in Pakistan’s second-largest city of Lahore have been banned from outdoor exercise until January because of hazardous smog levels, officials said Friday.
The eastern megacity near the border with India regularly registers among the world’s most polluted cities, this week recording more than 20 times the level deemed safe by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Smog is particularly bad in winter as a result of low-grade fuel from factories and vehicles in the low-lying megacity of 14 million, where denser cold air traps emissions at ground level.
Seasonal crop burn-off by farmers on the outskirts of Lahore is also a major contributing factor.
This week the Environmental Protection Agency of eastern Punjab province said that outdoor school activities in Lahore would end from Monday.
A Punjab School Education Department spokesman told AFP on Friday the ban would last for three months until January 31.
School hours will also be cut in the morning to prevent children traveling when the pollution is most punishing.
Lessons will start no earlier than 8:45 am (0345 GMT), cutting 15 minutes off learning hours for public schools and more than an hour for most private schools.
Breathing the toxic air has catastrophic health consequences, with WHO saying strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases could be triggered due to prolonged exposure.
According to UNICEF nearly 600 million children in South Asia are exposed to high levels of air pollution.
Schools in Pakistan’s most populous province of Punjab in particular are increasingly disrupted by extreme heat in the summer and choking smog in the winter.
In an editorial on Friday, Pakistan’s leading English-language newspaper Dawn said measures such as shutting schools were “akin to putting band-aids on gaping wounds.”
“The long-term strategies needed to combat this environmental crisis remain elusive,” it said.
Smog in Pakistan megacity ends outdoor play for schoolkids
https://arab.news/jq4jv
Smog in Pakistan megacity ends outdoor play for schoolkids
- The eastern city of Lahore near the border with India regularly registers among the world’s most polluted cities
- Smog is particularly bad in winter due to low-grade fuel from factories, vehicles in low-lying city of 14 million
Pakistan’s ‘Forward Sports’ to kick off operations in Saudi Arabia
- Forward Sports is a leading Pakistani sports goods manufacturer that produces Adidas’ official World Cup footballs
- Saudi ambassador meets Forward Sports representatives to discuss opening company’s headquarters in Kingdom
ISLAMABAD: Prominent Pakistani sports goods manufacturer Forward Sports is set to open its headquarters in Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom’s embassy said on Thursday.
Forward Sports, based in Pakistan’s eastern city of Sialkot, is famous for manufacturing and exporting high quality footballs. It produces Adidas’s official World Cup match balls and recently displaced a Chinese competitor as the German brand’s largest football supplier.
Pakistan’s Finance Minister told Arab News in November that Forward Sports’ representatives and Saudi officials met during the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh in October. Both sides explored a model in which high-precision manufacturing takes place in Pakistan, with finishing, packaging and regional distribution shifted to Saudi Arabia as part of its industrial localization push, the minister said.
“In the context of strengthening trade relations between the two friendly countries, the ambassador of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to Pakistan, Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki, met representatives of Forward Sports Industries to discuss preparations for opening the company’s headquarters in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the Saudi embassy in Pakistan said.
The collaboration in manufacturing footballs takes place as Saudi Arabia gears up to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, which is driving demand for sports-related goods in the Kingdom.
Saudi businessmen have previously eyed collaboration with Pakistan, especially when it comes to importing sports goods and surgical instruments from the country.
A Saudi business delegation in 2022 visited the manufacturing units of Forward Sports, Elmed Instruments (Pvt) Limited and Hilbro International (Pvt) Limited companies, all located in Sialkot, to assess the quality of sports and surgical instruments there.
The development takes place as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directs his government to increase its focus on enhancing exports. Islamabad has sought to escape a prolonged economic crisis over the past few years, seeing increased exports and foreign investment as key drivers of sustainable economic growth.
