Pakistan closes primary school in Lahore due to record pollution

Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city, will close primary schools for a week due to record pollution, government officials said Sunday, to avoid exposing millions of children to smog several times above dangerous levels. announced for.

For days, the city of 14 million people has been shrouded in smog, a mixture of fog and pollutants caused by low-grade diesel fuel, seasonal agricultural burning and winter cold.

The air quality index, which measures various pollutants, exceeded 1,000 on Saturday, well above the “dangerous” level of 300, according to IQAir data. The Punjab government also recorded a peak of over 1,000 cases on Sunday, which it considered “unprecedented”.

“The weather forecast for the next six days shows that the wind pattern will not change. Therefore, all public and private primary schools in Lahore will be closed for a week,” Jahangir Anwar, a senior environmental protection official in Lahore, told AFP. It will be closed,” he said.

A local government decision obtained by AFP states that “all classes” for children up to 10 years old, “public, private and special education… will be closed for one week” from Monday to Saturday. .

The decision added that the situation will be reassessed next Saturday to decide whether to extend school closures.

“This smog is very harmful to children. Wearing masks should be compulsory in schools. We are keeping an eye on the health of children in senior classes,” Punjab’s senior minister Mariyum Aurangzeb said at a press conference on Sunday. I’m doing it,” he said.

Smog counters have been installed at hospitals, she added.

Breathing toxic air can have devastating health effects, with the WHO saying long-term exposure can cause stroke, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases.

particularly vulnerable children

On Saturday, concentrations of the deadly PM2.5 pollutant – the fine particulate matter in the air that causes the most health hazards – were more than 40 times higher than levels deemed acceptable by the World Health Organization. PM2.5 levels were above that on Sunday morning and have since decreased slightly.

The state Department of Environmental Protection last week announced new regulations at four “hot spots” in the city.

Tuk-tuks with pollutant-emitting two-stroke engines and restaurants with unfiltered barbecues are banned.

Half of the staff in government agencies and private companies will work from home starting Monday.

Children are especially vulnerable because their lungs are underdeveloped and they breathe more quickly than adults because they take in more air relative to their body size.

Last month, authorities banned outdoor exercise for schoolchildren until January and adjusted school hours to prevent children from traveling during the worst months of pollution.

According to the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, pollution above levels considered safe by the World Health Organization shortens the lifespan of Lahore residents by an average of 7.5 years.

Nearly 600 million children in South Asia are exposed to high levels of air pollution, and half of childhood pneumonia deaths are linked to air pollution, according to UNICEF.

© 2024 AFP