Riccardo Liguori Air pollution in Pakistan and India has reached critical levels, putting the health of millions of people at risk. Lahore is the most polluted city in the world, while New Delhi struggles to breathe. The authorities are taking action with emergency measures, but long-term solutions are needed
@Canva
Heavy layers of smog have enveloped South Asia in a serious health threat for millions. Cities across the region, like Lahore in Pakistan and New Delhi in India, are faced with an unparalleled environmental disaster as their respective air pollution levels continue to surpass the WHO’s safety limits by unhealthy margins.
Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province, has emerged as the world’s most polluted city, according to real-time rankings from Swiss group IQAir. On November 6, 2024, the city’s Air Quality Index surged to 1165, over 120 times the recommended safety level by the WHO. Days before that, AQI was peaking at 1900, forcing authorities to shut down primary schools, as well as order remote work.
Delhi, India’s capital, also experiences deadly smog. Ranked as the most polluted capital by IQAir for four consecutive years, Delhi’s AQI still is critically high, with a third of the city’s 39 monitoring stations showing levels above 400-a level considered dangerous even to people without pre-existing health issues.
Causes of the crisis
Contributing to the air quality emergency through a variety of avenues, farmers are massively burning crop residue in preparation for the wheat sowing season in Punjab; it emits large volumes of smoke and particulate matter. Other sources include emissions from vehicles, industrial activity, construction site dust, and cold air stagnation due to winter that traps pollutants.
As every winter, the entire South Asia got covered by thick pollution with cold air trapped emissions, dust, and smoke of agricultural fires, the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute said in its recent Air Quality Life Index report, warning of severe health impacts: pollution may cut life expectancy in the region by more than five years.
War rooms and artificial rain
Pakistan and India are making strange moves, especially from authorities, to respond to the crisis. In Pakistan’s Punjab, a “war room against smog” has been established to oversee response efforts. This high-powered team, sourced from eight departments, monitors air quality data, interpretation of forecasts, and implements measures that include closure of primary schools, restrictions on odd/even number plate vehicles, banning construction work, and issuance of advisories to residents to stay indoors.
The Environment Minister, Gopal Rai, has called for artificial rain in New Delhi to wash its polluted skies. Cloud seeding is a process using salts, such as silver iodide, to inject into the clouds in hope of forcing rain from them. Last year, 2023, this was considered, but proposals were shelved because of adverse weather. With the very poor air quality so far this year, India’s government is determined to look into the solution.
A cross-border problem
The Punjab government has squarely pointed its finger at India for contributing to the region’s air pollution with its emissions from across the border. “Wind from India toward Lahore is pushing the smog to dangerous levels,” said Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb. Dialogue with New Delhi is on the cards as officials weigh options to address the common challenge.
Health impact
The general impact of air pollution is very severe on human health. Respiratory diseases started to increase with hospitals filled up with patients afflicted with asthma, bronchitis, and other lung diseases. Children and the elderly, whose immune defenses are not yet fully developed or already weaker, respectively, have a higher risk of getting sick.
According to EPIC, the region—which includes some of the world’s most polluted countries: Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan—is responsible for more than half of global years of life lost due to pollution.
“The numbers are shocking. We are seeing a spike in patients with pollution-related asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and bronchitis, with cases up by around 20-30%, ” said Dr. Prashant Saxena, Senior Director of Pulmonology at Fortis Hospital in Delhi.
While the “smog war rooms” work round the clock and the artificial rain projects are in discussion, these are no more than temporary solutions. A multi-sector approach and long-term strategy are what can relieve India and Pakistan from the clutches of air pollution.
A path to sustainable solutions
The dependence on fossil fuel must be brought down. India accounts for about 7% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions and is the third-largest emitter on the planet after China and the United States—in fourth place if you consider the EU an emitter. Currently, the country produces about 70% of its electricity from coal. This needs to transition toward renewables like solar and wind-resources where India is rich-and urgently so. So does Pakistan, currently dependent quite heavily on coal and oil. It would be great for the two countries to promote sustainable transportation – public transit and electric micromobility – as a way to reduce all those harmful emissions.
Another major step in this way would be the enhancement of efficiency in energy consumption at industry level and home. This halt to deforestation will increase the absorbent capacity of CO ₂, resulting in clean air. A huge issue is linked to forest loss where India is concerned-the country has lost 414,000 hectares (4.1%) of its primary humid forest – or 18% of its total tree cover loss between 2002 and 2023, as reported by Global Forest Watch.
