SMOG in Lahore hits back
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LAHORE - Experts said that greenhouse effect, Hydrogen Sulphide and 'high level reading' of pollution in the air were the major reasons of dense smog in the provincial metropolis.
In an interview, the experts and environmentalists said that a combination of high level pollutants, calm wind and penetration of pollution from India was causing dense smog, in a greenhouse effect way, causing disruption to everyday life for the people of Lahore.
Dr Khalid Hussain from Services Hospital here told APP that heavy smog was also a major reason these days for a increase in casualties in road accidents due to poor visibility.
He advised people to move around in face-masks for protection in this connection. He said that , the smog was causing heavy breathing, as well as some eye, nose and throat infection.
Noted climate expert Dr Mehmood Khalid Qamar said that according to fresh readings obtained through the recently installed monitoring equipment, the level of carbon monoxide was 21.29 (milligram per metre) on the Mall Road, 17.52 in Mohlanwal, and 6.94 in Gulberg's Liberty Market as against the maximum permissible limit of 5.
The second pollutant emanating from the drains was hydrogen sulphide with levels of 772.69 on Zafar Ali Road as opposed to the permissible limit of 7 per minute and 150 per 24 hours.
Manager Conservation, World Wide Fund for Conservation of Nature (WWF), Pakistan Chapter, Humera Aysha said that the level of sulphur dioxide that was the product of junk fuel was
1373.1 at Daroghawala, north and northeast Lahore, which houses hundreds of mills, including 600 steel factories. The tolerant upper limit is 120.
Manager Conservation, World Wide Fund for Conservation of Nature (WWF), Pakistan Chapter, Humera Aysha said that the level of sulphur dioxide that was the product of junk fuel was
1373.1 at Daroghawala, north and northeast Lahore, which houses hundreds of mills, including 600 steel factories.
The tolerant upper limit is 120. A senior official of the Environment Protection Department
(EPD) said the chemical particles present in the air were turning environment as toxic.
These included carbon monoxide from India produced after the burning of nearly 32 tonnes of crop residue by its farmers, gases from the drains and waste material from hundreds of factories in northern and northeast Lahore.
Riaz Khan, a senior official from Met Department here said pollution from India penetrated Pakistan, especially Lahore, when the wind direction blowed towards us in the month
of October.
To a question he said that the pollution would be pushed back only after strong north-westerly winds move towards India. He said pollution could only be washed away by rain or
strong winds.
