Is the air we breathe killing us?
Lung diseases, facemasks and irritable eyes – a snapshot into the future of Pakistan without urgent air quality management programs.
The extensive smog experienced in Lahore in November 2016 kick-started a long overdue conversation about the importance of air quality in the country. As a result, a petition filed in the Lahore High Court led the Government of Punjab (GOP) and The Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (PEPA) being told to formulate an air pollution policy, which is currently underway.
A recent report by the State of Global Air states that while 92% of the world’s population lived in areas with unhealthy air in 2015, China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh experience the most extreme concentrations of air pollution.
Air pollution is mostly measured and monitored in terms of ambient fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) and ozone concentrations in the atmosphere. PM 2.5 are airborne particles as small as 2.5 micrometers in aerodynamic diameter.
A project on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation has reported exposure to PM 2.5 as the fifth largest factor contributing to global mortality. However, to address the rapidly increasing air pollution in the country, it is important to know the kind of air pollution that is present. “Punjab has 36 districts and PEPA has a total of one air quality monitor for the entire province, that too at the back of a pickup van in Rawalpindi,” says Ahmad Rafay Alam, Environmental Activist and Lawyer. “So if one wants to know the air quality of Lahore, the van will come down to the city and park somewhere for the day to measure it.”