Pak's Punjab govt may impose Covid-19-like restrictions in Lahore as air quality worsens

Lahore: Pakistan's Punjab government may impose coronavirus-like restrictions here in the provincial capital to control the worsening smog situation, according to a media report on Tuesday.

Quoting the sources, Geo News reported that the authorities are likely to announce a complete shutdown on Wednesdays when all schools, markets, and factories will be closed.

The city's Commissioner said the authorities will also announce a work-from-home policy for two months to combat smog in the Lahore Division.

The decision came after a meeting with traders to discuss the proposal to keep markets closed on Wednesdays.

“Traders can open markets on Sundays if they want," Commissioner Muhammad Ali Randhawa said.

Under the new policy, the government departments will operate with 50 per cent strength on Wednesday, the report said, adding that it has also been advised to carry out snap-checking on weekends - Saturday and Sunday.

The report also said that the administration has been advised to impose heavy fines on factories violating the law and shut them in case of continuous ignorance of the directives.

The highest level of smog was recorded on the first three days of the week - Monday to Wednesday, the report said.

Meanwhile, a Swiss air quality technology company, IQAir, said that Lahore ranked number one among 109 cities in the world to have the worst air quality.

The provincial capital on Monday recorded 175 AQI US. Simultaneous construction of various mega infrastructure development projects, traffic issues, industries’ operation and other factors are said to be causing massive pollution in Lahore.

The IQAir measures air quality levels based on the concentration of lung-damaging airborne particles known as PM2.5.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends a maximum PM2.5 concentration of 5 micrograms per cubic metre.