ISLAMABAD: The Punjab provincial administration announced Wednesday it will impose “green lockdowns” in Lahore’s smog hotspots as the city faces dangerously high Air Quality Index (AQI) levels, prompting strict measures to protect residents’ health and reduce escalating pollution levels.
The provincial authorities have already implemented several measures to combat Lahore’s hazardous smog, including a mandatory mask policy citywide and a temporary suspension of all outdoor school activities. Additionally, a ban on fireworks will remain in place until January 31, 2025.
The green lockdown will strengthen these efforts by restricting pollution-heavy activities such as outdoor cooking at barbecue spots and banning smoke-emitting public transport from operating in the city’s most affected areas
“There are eleven hotspots where AQI levels have been calculated, with Shimla Pahari currently identified as a key hotspot,” senior Punjab provincial minister Marriyum Aurangzeb told the province’s legislative assembly while listing down measures taken by the government to deal with the issue.
“Around this area, we’re mapping a green ring to enforce a green lockdown,” she added. “However, it doesn’t mean we are closing Shimla Pahari itself. Instead, we are halting construction activities within a one-kilometer radius from today and redirecting three-wheeler rickshaws away from this hotspot.”
She also noted that the government planned a “wall of trees” around the city to control carbon emissions and improve the air quality.
Lahore’s winter smog has become an annual crisis, with air quality deteriorating to hazardous levels each season. The city consistently ranks among the world’s worst for air pollution, leading to a significant rise in respiratory issues and hospital admissions, especially affecting children and the elderly.
Last year, the severe pollution levels prompted a surge in cases of asthma, lung infections and other respiratory problems among residents, according to media reports.
The problem prompted Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif this week to propose cross-border cooperation with Indian authorities to tackle shared pollution sources, such as crop residue burning, which exacerbates the region’s smog problem.
Pakistan imposes ‘green lockdown’ in Lahore smog hotspots as pollution hits hazardous levels
https://arab.news/2yjey
Pakistan imposes ‘green lockdown’ in Lahore smog hotspots as pollution hits hazardous levels
- Lockdown will restrict pollution-heavy activities, such as outdoor cooking, in designated areas
- Authorities plan a ‘wall of trees’ around the city to reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality
Pakistan top military commander urges ‘multi-domain preparedness’ amid evolving security threats
- Asim Munir says Pakistan faces layered challenges spanning conventional, cyber, economic and information domains
- His comments come against the backdrop of tensions with India, ongoing militant violence in western border regions
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top military commander Field Marshal Asim Munir on Tuesday stressed the need for “multi-domain preparedness” to counter a broad spectrum of security challenges facing the country, saying they ranged from conventional military threats to cyber, economic and information warfare.
Pakistan’s security environment has remained volatile following a brief but intense conflict with India earlier this year, when the two nuclear-armed neighbors exchanged missile and artillery fire while deploying drones and fighter jets over four days before a ceasefire was brokered by the United States.
Pakistan has also been battling militant violence in its western provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, where authorities say armed groups operate from across the border in Afghanistan and receive backing from India. Both Kabul and New Delhi have rejected claims.
The military has also warned that disinformation constitutes a new form of security threat, prompting tighter regulations that critics say risk suppressing dissent. Munir also pointed to a “complex and evolving” global, regional and internal security landscape while addressing participants in the National Security and War Course at the National Defense University (NDU).
“These challenges span conventional, sub-conventional, intelligence, cyber, information, military, economic and other domains, requiring comprehensive multi-domain preparedness, continuous adaptation and synergy among all elements of national power,” he said, according to a military statement.
“Hostile elements increasingly employ indirect and ambiguous approaches, including the use of proxies to exploit internal fault lines, rather than overt confrontation,” he continued, adding that future leaders must be trained and remain alert to recognize, anticipate and counter these multi-layered challenges.
Munir also lauded the NDU for producing strategic thinkers who he said were capable of translating rigorous training and academic insight into effective policy formulation and operational outcomes.
