Punjab government seems to be listening and has announced plans to install another 30 advanced air-quality monitors across the province.
The new roadmap worked upon by Punjab government to tackle growing smog problem is to address the main sources of pollution for the province – transport, industry, energy, and agriculture, including the burning of crop residue – and set monthly targets that must be met throughout the smog season.
The departments of environmental protection, transport, agriculture, industry and health, as well as the Punjab Horticulture Authority, local governments and district commissioners, must all adhere to these targets.
Punjab government is revamping the Environment Protection Authority [EPA], setting up a 500-personnel strong environment protection squad and adding eight monitoring units in Lahore, and a robust legal framework will back the plan.
Ahmad Rafay Alam, a climate expert and one of Pakistan’s leading environmental lawyers, says that for the action plan to work effectively, Punjab needs a lot more air monitors to adequately study its quality and analyse the data.
“Presently, there are five or six reference monitors in Punjab, not enough for a city the size of Lahore – leave alone the province,” he tells Dialogue Earth.
The Punjab government seems to be listening and has announced plans to install another 30 advanced air-quality monitors across different urban communities in the region, with Lahore’s monitoring capacity expanding to eight units.
The new monitors in Lahore were decisively positioned at THQ Kahna, Jiya Bhagga Police Headquarters, Shahdara Teaching Hospital, Punjab University, and Wildlife Park, Raiwind. Different cities profiting from this drive included Rawalpindi (three monitors), Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, and Sialkot (one monitor each), as well as Multan, Gujranwala, and Bahawalpur (two monitors each).
Read more: Pakistan’s worst smog: Here’s how it affects your health and how to protect yourself
Besides, Sargodha (two observers) and Dera Ghazi Khan (one monitor) were scheduled to implement the system later this month. These devices are connected to the Environmental Protection Agency’s central control room for continuous observation.
As per Senior Provincial Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, the system will see 25 more monitors installed in the second stage. These new establishments will be spread across a few districts, with monitors anticipating Faisalabad, Sheikhupura, Rawalpindi, Multan, Gujranwala, Sialkot, and Bahawalpur. By the end of this month, Sargodha and DG Khan are also expected to receive their air quality monitors.
Real-time data and public access
Marriyum Aurangzeb emphasized that every one of the monitors is connected to the central control room of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This integration will allow consistent checking and convenient dissemination of information. Additionally, the monitoring system will be associated with the global Air Quality Information (AQI) framework, empowering ongoing updates to be made available to people in general and researchers. This will mark a significant shift from past practices where environmental data was frequently kept inaccessible.
Maryam Nawaz’s leadership in presenting this modern air quality monitoring system has been hailed as a leap forward in digital governance. As the first Chief Minister of Punjab to champion such a thorough initiative, Nawaz’s efforts are focused on observing air quality as well as ensuring that the general population is kept informed.