India and Modi behind pollution in Pakistan, says minister

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhary has blamed India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the pollution in Lahore, according to reports in the Pakistani media on Wednesday.

Taking to his twitter handle, Chaudhary said: "Indian level of pollution at Wagah is double than Lahore city."

In a separate tweet, he said: "Min of Climate Change informed the Cabinet that Pollution in Lahore is caused by cross border field fires and abysmal environmental conditions in India level of pollution at Wagah is double than Lahore city, #Modi Govt is failing in every aspect, irresponsible Govts are a curse."

The statement of the Pakistani minister came after the release of the World Air Quality Index report, which said that Lahore was the second most polluted city on Oct.29.

According to the media reports, the emission from vehicles and industries, dust from the construction sites and burning of crop residue were the major reasons behind the increasing pollution level in Lahore.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Punjab Home Department has imposed a ban on the burning of crop residue, solid municipal waste, plastic and leather items for a period of three months across the province under Section 144 (6) CrPC, 1898.

Separately, Amnesty International on Wednesday said that the government's "failure to protect people from exposure to hazardous air in Punjab risks violating their human rights to life and health."

In a statement, Amnesty International said that the Air Quality Index in Lahore had reached 484 at 10am today, adding that the threshold for "hazardous" levels of air quality was 300, where people are advised to “avoid all physical activity outdoors.”

"During the 'smog season' – from October to January – air quality reaches 'hazardous' levels, as recorded by multiple, independent sources including the air quality monitors installed by the United States Consulate in Lahore and the crowdsourced data collated by the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative," the rights group added.

In March, Faisalabad and Lahore were ranked in the top 10 on a list of the world's most polluted cities in 2018. The list was dominated by Indian cities, which took 22 of the top 30 spots, according to a Greenpeace report.

The South Asia Campaigner at Amnesty International, Rimmel Mohydin, said: "The high level of smog is neither a new problem, nor one that came without warning. The government of Pakistan needs to do much more to adequately address such a severe public health crisis — one that endangers people’s health and even their lives."

Mohydin said that air pollution and the climate change crisis are "intricately linked."