Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann recently advocated a collaborative approach to deal with the issue of air pollution and urged against ‘blame-shifting’ between states. His comments came in response to criticism from Pakistan Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who had claimed that smoke coming from India’s Punjab was affecting Lahore. Mann jokingly said that Delhi is also making the same allegation that Punjab’s pollution affects its air quality, it seems as if Punjab’s pollution is somehow rotating in a loop.
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Stubble burning is a well-known issue in Punjab and Haryana after the paddy harvest in October and November. To quickly prepare their fields for the Rabi season and sow wheat, farmers often burn crop residues, emitting large amounts of smoke and contributing significantly to air pollution in North India, including Delhi. The proximity between paddy harvesting and sowing of the next crop puts farmers under pressure, leading to large-scale burning of stubble as an efficient but environmentally damaging solution.
Let us tell you that according to a report by Dawn, Senior Minister Maryam Aurangzeb warned the citizens about the smoke coming from India and said that the winds will continue to blow towards Lahore for at least a week. He had said that Punjab would write to the Foreign Office on Monday (November 4) to raise the issue with New Delhi. However, reacting to the claim, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the department has not received any request from the Pakistani side.
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The second largest city of Pakistan is facing extreme pollution and urban pollution. The air quality index (AQI) reached more than 1,900 last week. Switzerland-based air quality monitoring organization IQAir has placed the air quality in the hazardous category. The provincial minister said during a press conference that easterly winds coming from Amritsar and Chandigarh have been pushing the air quality index in Lahore to more than 1,000 for the last two days.
