Smog could be the hazard that heals Pakistan, India’s toxic diplomacy
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Smog has again hit both sides of the border with devastating effect as winter sets in, prompting calls for joint efforts by India and Pakistan to deal with this grave climate challenge. According to Pakistan’s environmental protection authorities, around 30 percent of smog in Pakistan’s second largest city Lahore comes from across the border in India.
Recently the air quality in the city with its population of more than 15 million people dropped to a new low with pollution levels up to 15 times higher than are deemed healthy. The situation is far worse this year, forcing the provincial government to shut schools ostensibly to save children from the effects of hazardous air quality.
The public has also been barred from entering public parks, zoos, playgrounds and museums to reduce exposure to smog. Provincial government officials have said the closure may be extended if ‘winds from India’ persist, taking smog to dangerous levels. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), over 11 million children under five years of age were exposed to this smog in the worst affected districts of Pakistan’s Punjab province.
Breathing toxic air has catastrophic health consequences. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it causes heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases which can be triggered by prolonged exposure. Pollution in excess of levels deemed safe by the WHO shortens the life expectancy of Lahore’s residents by an average of 7.5 years, according to the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute. According to UNICEF, nearly 600 million children in South Asia are exposed to high levels of air pollution.
While Lahore tops the list of the most polluted city in the world, the air quality across the border in India is equally bad. The Indian capital New Delhi, some 260 miles from Lahore, is worst affected with the beginning of the pollution season. Both Lahore and New Delhi have recently ranked among the world’s most polluted cities. The city of more than 25 million people is also shrouded in a thick, toxic smog with air quality remaining in the “very poor” category.
Much of the smoke reportedly travels from the neighboring Indian states of Punjab and Haryana. This year the brown smog had arrived even earlier than usual making it more difficult to mitigate its effect. One of the causes of the smog is farmers’ practice of burning the stubble of their crops to quickly and cheaply clear their fields.
Despite being illegal in India and Pakistan, enforcement is weak and the stubble burning has continued. The air quality is also worsened by industrial emissions from factories and construction, as well as fumes from trucks and cars, which get trapped over the cities as the cold winter air sets in.
Pollutants topped 344 micrograms per cubic meter, according to monitoring firm IQAir which listed air in the sprawling megacity as “hazardous”, ranking it as the world’s worst. Air pollution worsened during the Hindu festival of Diwali in the beginning of November because fireworks spewing hazardous toxins are part of celebrations.
Pakistan’s “smog diplomacy” initiative is indeed a very positive move given the gravity of the problem. But this initiative can only work with matching responses from India.
Zahid Hussain
Given the hazardous climatic conditions affecting the region, chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province has called for a “smog diplomacy” initiative between the two countries to address dangerously high levels of air pollution affecting them both. “Until both Punjabs come together, we won’t be able to tackle the issue of smog,” the chief minister said. Pakistan is also considering hosting a regional climate conference in Lahore before the year ends.
Pakistan’s “smog diplomacy” initiative is indeed a very positive move given the gravity of the problem. But this initiative can only work with matching responses from India. As Punjab chief minister Maryam Nawaz said: “The winds don’t know there’s a border in the middle.” According to media reports, she has also indicated her willingness to meet her counterpart in Indian Punjab to address the pollution issue.
The relationship between India and Pakistan has hit a historic low over the past several years. The two estranged neighbors have even reduced their diplomatic status with rising tensions over the Kashmir dispute. The hope of a thaw in the frozen relationship between the two nuclear countries has diminished after the return of Narendra Modi as the country’s prime minister for the third term. There has not been any official level contact between Islamabad and New Delhi for the past several years.
But climate diplomacy could open doors for a dialogue on an issue that affects both countries despite the complexity of the relationship. One hopes India will respond positively over Pakistan’s offer of charting a joint strategy to deal with the grave challenge affecting people-- especially children-- on both sides of the border.
- Zahid Hussain is an award-winning journalist and author. He is a former scholar at Woodrow Wilson Centre and a visiting fellow at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, and at the Stimson Center in DC. He is author of Frontline Pakistan: The struggle with Militant Islam and The Scorpion’s tail: The relentless rise of Islamic militants in Pakistan. Frontline Pakistan was the book of the year (2007) by the WSJ. His latest book ‘No-Win War’ was published this year. X: @hidhussain
