A city closes its schools due to excessive air pollution (photos)

Aith winds coming from India towards Lahore and peaks (of pollution), (…) nursery and primary schools will be closed for a week,” declared Marriyum Aurangzeb, minister of the government of the state of Punjab.

“All classes” welcoming children up to 10 years old, “public and private, under the jurisdiction of the city of Lahore, must remain closed for a week from Monday”, indicates a decision of the local government consulted by AFP .

This document indicates that the situation will be evaluated again next Saturday to determine if this closure is renewed.

“Weather forecasts indicate that the wind pattern will remain the same for the next six days,” Jahangir Anwar, senior environmental protection official in the Punjab government, has already told AFP.

Regularly, India and Pakistan, neighboring countries whose relations are at their lowest, accuse each other of causing pollution peaks in each other’s territory.

Smog is a mixture of fog and polluting emissions caused by low-end diesel fumes, fumes from seasonal agricultural burning and winter cooling.

Prolonged exposure to smog can cause strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory illnesses, particularly in children.

“The smog is very dangerous for children and masks will be compulsory in schools, we remain attentive to the health of students in higher classes,” continued Ms. Aurangzeb.

“+smog+ stands have been installed in hospitals, the smog episode is more dangerous than the Covid episode,” she insisted.

“Never seen before” pollution

On Saturday, the concentration of PM2.5 microparticles in the air of Lahore reached more than 40 times the level considered acceptable by the World Health Organization. On Sunday, this threshold was exceeded in the morning before decreasing slightly.

Lahore has already banned polluting tuk-touks, barbecues and certain construction sites in its center. As of Monday, half of public and private employees are expected to work from home and schools are banned from organizing outdoor sporting activities until the end of January.

On Saturday, the air quality index exceeded 1,000 in the city of 14 million inhabitants but the air is considered “bad” from 180 and “dangerous” above 300, according to this hint. Also on Sunday, it saw peaks beyond a thousand, deemed “never seen” before by the Punjab government.

Last winter, class hours were reduced in Punjab due to smog, extended holidays and masks made compulsory.

Smog is particularly severe in winter, when cold, denser air traps emissions from poor-quality fuels used to power the city’s vehicles and factories at ground level.