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
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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 forces killed 145 militants after Balochistan attacks— chief minister
- Militants carried out coordinated attacks across Balochistan’s Quetta, Gwadar, Panjgur and other areas on Friday and Saturday
- Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti says 31 civilians, 17 law enforcement personnel killed in attacks, vows not to surrender to militants
ISLAMABAD: The chief minister of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province announced on Sunday that security forces had killed 145 militants in 40 hours after militant attacks in many parts of Balochistan this week, vowing that the government will continue fighting militancy.
Separatist militants launched attacks in various areas of Balochistan province on Friday and Saturday, Pakistan’s military said in an earlier statement, prompting security forces to respond. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said Pakistani forces carried out operations in Panjgur and Harnai areas on Friday to kill 41 militants.
On Saturday, it said 92 more militants were killed in Quetta, Gwadar, Mastung, Nushki, Dalbandin, Kharan, Panjgur, Tump and Pasni areas as security forces repelled coordinated attacks on civilians and law enforcers.
Pakistan’s military said the attacks were launched by “Indian-sponsored Fitna al Hindustan,” a reference the military frequently uses for the separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) militant group. The BLA also issued a statement on Saturday, saying it had launched what it called “Operation Herof 2.0,” claiming responsibility for attacks in multiple locations across Balochistan.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi accused India of being behind the attacks, blaming New Delhi for planning the militant attacks in the province. India has always refuted Pakistan’s allegations of backing militant outfits in the country.
“We managed to kill 145 terrorists in 40 hours,” Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti told reporters during a news conference.
He said 17 law enforcement personnel, which included policemen, Frontier Corps personnel and a navy serviceman, were killed in the attacks. Civilian casualties totaled 31, he added.
The chief minister praised security forces for killing over 1,500 militants last year and conducting over 58,000 intelligence-based operations across Balochistan.
Bugti vowed that the government would not surrender to militants and would continue to fight them until they are eliminated.
“We will fight this war for 1,000 years,” he said. “This country is ours. This is our motherland. We will fight for it.”
Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has faced a decades-long insurgency by separatist militant groups, with Pakistani authorities frequently accusing foreign actors of backing the violence. India has repeatedly denied such allegations.
Islamabad says separatist elements hide in sanctuaries in neighboring Afghanistan, along with the Pakistani Taliban militant group, and launch attacks against Pakistan. Afghanistan denies the allegations.
Ethnic Baloch militant groups such as the BLA demand independence from Pakistan. They blame Islamabad for denying the local Baloch population a share in the province’s mineral wealth.
Pakistan’s federal government and the military deny the allegations and point to several social and economic projects undertaken by the government for the benefit of the masses in Balochistan.
