LAHORE: Record-high air pollution in Pakistan’s cultural capital of Lahore is sending more people to hospitals and private clinics, doctors said Wednesday as authorities warned a complete lockdown could be imminent if residents fail to don face masks and follow other guidance related to smog.
The warning came after residents out on the streets in Lahore, which has a population of 14 million, were seen overwhelmingly without masks. Doctors say most people are complaining of either having a cough or that they feel their eyes are burning.
“Tens of thousands of patients suffering from respiratory diseases were treated at hospitals and clinics in a week,” said Salman Kazmi, vice president of the Pakistan Medical Association.
You can see people coughing whenever you go, but they still hardly wear face masks, he said.
Lahore remained the world’s most polluted city Wednesday morning, with air quality index hitting a record high of over 1,100. Anything over 300 is considered hazardous to health.
A toxic smog has shrouded the city since last month.
Marriyum Aurangzeb, a senior minister in the Punjab province asked people to wear face masks to avoid a complete lockdown in the city. Lahore is the provincial capital.
Authorities in the city have already banned barbecuing food without filters, as well as the use of motorized rickshaws — and wedding halls must close by 10 p.m.
The government said it was also looking into methods to induce artificial rainfall to combat the pollution.
Record-high pollution sickens thousands in Pakistan’s cultural capital of Lahore
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Record-high pollution sickens thousands in Pakistan’s cultural capital of Lahore
- Authorities warn a complete lockdown could be imminent if smog-related guidelines are ignored
- Lahore remained world’s most polluted city Wednesday morning as air quality index rose to over 1,100
Pakistan police, security forces kill 12 militants in separate operations
- The operations were conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak, Balochistan’s Kalat districts
- The country is currently battling twin insurgencies in both provinces that border Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s police and security forces have gunned down 12 militants in separate operations in two western provinces that border Afghanistan, authorities said on Sunday.
Police launched an operation in a mountainous area of Karak district in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, following reports of militant presence, according to Karak police spokesman Shaukat Khan.
The operation resulted in the killing of at least eight militants, while several others were wounded in the exchange of fire with law enforcers. Karak police chief Saud Khan led the heavy police contingent alongside personnel from intelligence agencies.
“Several militant hideouts located in the mountainous terrain between Kohat and Karak districts were dismantled during the operation,” Khan told Arab News on Sunday evening, adding the operation was still ongoing.
Separately, security forces killed four “Indian-sponsored” separatist militants in an intelligence-based operation in Kalat district of the southwestern Balochistan province, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.
“Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area,” the ISPR said in a statement.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian sponsored terrorist found in the area.”
Pakistan, which has been facing a surge in militancy, has long accused Afghanistan of allowing its soil and India of backing militant groups, including the TTP, for attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi have consistently denied this.
