Punjab Environmental Protection Minister Muhammad Rizwan has written a letter to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), asking them to take action against people who he alleged are spreading fake data about Lahore’s air quality on social media.
He added that unofficial and inaccurate figures about the Air Quality Index (AQI) are damaging the international reputation of Pakistan and the FIA’s cyber-crime wing should take strict action against the elements involved in harming the country’s image.
In the letter addressed to the FIA Lahore director, the Environment Protection Department (EPD) Minister Muhammad Rizwan wrote that data on AQI was being reported from unauthorised sources and was being used to spread concern on different media platforms.
The minister said that the government was cognisant of the smog situation and is considering several possible remedies for it. He added that the particular actions under consideration included the closure of schools, a ban on construction activities, and lockdown in areas more affected by smog.
Lahore was recently declared as the world’s most polluted city by a Swiss air quality monitor. For the past several years, the city has been suffering from a chronic problem of smog and poor air quality. The city’s air quality constantly ranks above the hazardous level of 300 during the winter season. A mixture of low-grade diesel fumes and smoke from the seasonal crop burn are blamed for the worse air quality but detailed research on the causes of this problem remains missing.
Earlier this week, Lahore Commissioner Captain (r) Muhammad Usman had announced the formation of five anti-smog squads in the city, that would monitor the air quality in Lahore and impose fines and restrictions on those causing pollution. This development came days after Rizwan, in an interview to a local news channel, claimed that there had been no smog in Lahore for the past two years.
