Thursday, 14 November 2024
Home Topics Climate Smog in Pakistan megacity ends outdoor play for schoolkids
ClimateEmissionsEnvironmentNews

Smog in Pakistan megacity ends outdoor play for schoolkids

20
A man rides a motorbike with several young children seated in front and behind him on a smog-ridden street.
Schoolchildren in Lahore have been banned from outdoor exercise until January because of hazardous smog levels, officials said (AFP)

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 travelling 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.

zz-jts/ecl/dhc

© Agence France-Presse

Related Articles

FILE PHOTO: A screen displays the company logo for Stellantis N.V. on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., January 31, 2024.  REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
BusinessElectric VehiclesTransport

Stellantis pledges not to close plants or slash jobs in Italy

"Stellantis does not intend to close any plants in Italy, just as...

The Government has confirmed it will introduce legislation to restrict new coal mines (John Giles/PA)
CoalLegislationMiningPoliticsRegulations

UK government to ban new coal mining schemes as country turns to clean energy

There may be limited exceptions to the ban for “safety or restoration...

A deal to provide the $1 trillion a year experts say is needed by 2030 for climate action in developing countries is the top priority at COP29 (AFP)
ClimateClimate FinancePolitics

Climate finance: who is being asked to pay what at COP29?

Of the annual $2.4 trillion needed, an estimated $1.4 trillion will need...

Login into your Account

Please login to like, dislike or bookmark this article.