Pakistan: Lahore government announced that primary schools in Lahore would be closed for a week due to record levels of pollution. This was done to avoid exposing millions of children to smog that was several times higher than what is considered to be dangerous levels.
Smog, a mixture of fog and pollutants brought on by low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal agricultural burning, and winter cooling, has enveloped Lahore’s 14 million residents for days.
According to data from IQAir, the air quality index, which measures a variety of pollutants, exceeded 1,000 on Saturday, well above the 300 level that is considered to be “dangerous.”
On Sunday, the Punjab government also recorded peaks that it deemed “unprecedented,” reaching over 1,000.
According to the weather forecast for the next six days, wind patterns will not change. As a result, all government and private primary schools in Lahore will be closed for a week, according to Jahangir Anwar, a senior official in charge of environmental protection in the city.
A local government decision seen by AFP stated that “all the classes” for children up to the age of 10—public, private, and special education—”shall remain closed for one week” from Monday to Saturday.
The situation will be assessed once more on Saturday to determine whether to extend the school closure, according to the decision.
Children are extremely harmed by this smog. Schools should require students to wear masks. During a press conference on Sunday, Punjab senior minister Marriyum Aurangzeb stated, “We are keeping an eye on the health of children in senior classes.”
She went on to say that hospitals have smog counters.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), prolonged exposure to the toxic air can cause strokes, heart disease, lung cancer, and respiratory diseases.
