BY acknowledging that smog is a year-round problem, and not just a winter issue, the Punjab government has taken the first meaningful step towards tackling a public health catastrophe. However, while this ‘policy shift’ is indeed a positive development, will it also lead the provincial authorities to rethink their haphazard interventions to deal with the problem? No strategy will be successful unless they reorder their priorities and realign their infrastructure development agenda with the goal of reducing the emissions responsible for the toxic air quality that we breathe every day.
As reported, the authorities are set to pursue a coordinated, cross-sectoral response to effectively cope with this perennial environmental epidemic that has taken over the entire province in recent years. The new anti-smog approach will revolve around a crackdown against all major polluters and the mobilisation of communities to create safe, smog-free spaces at home and workplaces through a multisectoral approach involving the transport, agriculture, energy, education, industries, municipal, and health departments. Prima facie, the plan appears to be meticulous. However, its success largely depends on a paradigm shift in the government’s ability to slash its own carbon footprint by moving away from brick-and-mortar development to a green framework. In Lahore, for instance, the policy of widening roads and developing signal-free corridors, instead of ensuring effective traffic management or creating an efficient public transport network for all has not only reduced the city’s green cover but has also increased vehicular emissions many times over in the last decade and a half. Likewise, the uncontrolled use of coal, waste rubber and discarded motor lubricants by industry around the city has become a major contributor to air pollution. No wonder the metropolis is now ranked among the world’s dirtiest and most polluted cities. Without a major provincial development policy revamp, it would be foolish to expect the industry and people to change.
Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2024
