Pakistan slams India as AQI hits record high in Lahore, schools shut as toxic gray smog sickens thousands

Pakistan lashed out at India on Monday as the air quality index in Pubjab province hit a record high over the weekend. Tens of thousands — mainly children and elderly people — have fallen sick in Lahore and other areas bordering India over the past month. The air-quality index in Lahore exceeded 1,000 over the weekend — a record high in Pakistan.

"The wind direction brings air from India into Pakistan, yet India does not seem to be taking this problem as seriously as it should," Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari told the media.

The official said that Lahore presently ranked closely behind Delhi in smog levels — with the concentration of PM 2.5 approaching 450 — which is considered hazardous.

“The easterly winds from Amritsar and Chandigarh are spiking the air quality index in Lahore to over 1,000 for the past two days. The wind from India towards Lahore taking the smog to dangerous levels and the wind is likely to sustain its direction for at least next week,” she cautioned.

Punjab senior minister Marriyum Aurangzeb had earlier said that the province was going to request the Pakistan Foreign Office to take up the issue of cross-border pollution with India.

Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz also called for climate diplomacy with India and said she would soon write to the chief minister of the Indian side of Punjab to jointly address the issue of smog.

Toxic gray smog has sickened tens of thousands of people, mainly children and elderly people, since last month when the air quality started worsening in Lahore, the capital of eastern Punjab province bordering India.

Authorities were forced to close primary schools for a week even as the government announced on Monday that it was now mandatory to wear face masks. The government has already closed schools for specially-abled children for three months.

Fifty per cent of employees must also work from home as part of a “green lockdown” in the city, the government said, adding that barbecuing food without filters was banned and motorised rickshaws restricted. Wedding halls must close at 10 p.m. and artificial rain is likely to be used to combat the pollution.

The measures in Lahore were part of a larger effort to protect children from respiratory-related and other diseases in the city of 14 million people.

(With inputs from agencies)