Amid ongoing mega projects, Lahore tops cities with worst air quality

LAHORE: Simultaneous construction of various mega infrastructure development projects, traffic issues, industries’ operation and other factors are not only causing pollution, but also affecting the public mobility in Lahore, which was on top of the list of 109 cities world over in terms of poor air quality index on Monday, according to IQAir.

“We are in a great trouble these days, as we have to pass through various streets of DHA to reach Bedian Road first to access other phases due to an under-construction underpass near Nawaz Sharif Interchange, in front of the Phase-V main entrance,” deplores a motorist while talking to Dawn on Saturday.

“This all is creating severe air pollution, causing respiratory issues among the residents and others who visit the area. The wastage of precious time, energy and vehicular fuel are also the factors affecting the people,” he added.

A resident of township said the area has been in the grip of severe dust pollution for the last couple of months.

“Akbar Chowk flyover project was launched a few months back and since then the residents of the localities situated near Kalma Chowk (including Township, Faisal Town and Johar Town) are facing issues,” he maintained.

He said besides this, severe traffic issues amid diversions due to construction work is also adding to the commuters’ misery.

“Therefore, we request the Punjab [caretaker] chief minister and the LDA director general to ensure timely completion of this project to save the public at large from the impact of pollution and other issues,” he demanded.

According to IQAir’s AQI ranking (October 9, 8:28pm), Lahore stood on top of the list of as many as 109 cities in the world in terms of poor air quality. The metropolitan recorded 175 AQI US on Monday, followed by Dhaka, Ulaanbaatar, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Dubai, Kathmandu, Kuala Lampur and Tashkent with 169, 162, 156, 151, 142, 137, 130, 126 and 110 AQI, respectively.

According to a spokesman for the Lahore Development Authority (LDA), the authority is making an all-out effort to mitigate the environment-related issues.

“We are well aware of the situation and we are adopting all possible measures in this regard. As per instruction received from the LDA DG/Lahore Commissioner Muhammad Ali Randhawa, our engineering teams are fixing green sheets around construction sites of various projects. Besides this, we have also deployed additional machinery and labour to complete all projects on time,” the spokesman claimed. “We hope that due to these measures, we will be able to bring down the impact of environmental pollution,” he maintained.

He said the LDA would complete three ( Shahdra flyover, Bedian underpass and Akbar Chowk Flyover) of the five ongoing projects by end of this month. “The remaining two – Khalid But underpass (Cavalary) and Bund Road – projects would also complete as per deadlines,” he added.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Randhawa visited sites of various development projects in Lahore, including Shahdra flyover, Bedian Road underpass, Akbar Chowk and Bund Road, and directed the engineering officials to complete these on time.

Environment Protection Department director general was not available for his comment.