Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: After Karachi and Lahore, the air quality in Pakistan’s federal capital Islamabad also suffered from contaminated particles and pollution. The last Sunday recorded a further increase in air pollution amid inclement weather posing vulnerable age groups comprising children, women, and elderly people at risk of contracting respiratory sickness.
Air pollution in the capital remained high for the last couple of days, rising further on Sunday as the dry winter weather prolonged, adding increased vehicular traffic, garbage, and an increase in wood burning in the city’s suburbs.
Air pollution in Islamabad
According to the daily air quality report of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA), Islamabad witnessed a high ratio of air pollutants recorded above permissible limits, and the air quality was unhealthy and miserable. The Agency is responsible for protecting the environment under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997.
The harmful air pollutant particulate matter of 2.5 microns (PM2.5), a hazardous atmospheric contaminant, persisted beyond 70 micrograms per cubic meter on average, almost higher than the NEQS of 35 mic-programs per cubic meter and denoted the air quality unhealthily and risky.
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PM2.5 is produced through the combustion of an engine from a vehicle, industrial emissions, burning garbage or inflammable substance, and dust blown up by cars plying on non-cemented patches of city roads.
Air Pollution in Karachi and Lahore
It is worth noting that for the last couple of years, Karachi was considered one of the major polluted metropolitans in Pakistan; however recent reports released a week before showed Lahore, the capital of Punjab, has surpassed Karachi in air pollution. Now the unhealthy quality of air in the federal capital Islamabad is also alarming for the government and administrators of environmental bodies.
Causes of Air Pollution
Senior Pulmonologist of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Dr Zia Ul Haq, said that dry and cold air was the key accelerator behind respiratory diseases during winters.
He further said the respiratory tract comprising the throat and lungs had internal surfaces with normal bacteria, but there was no breach in it.
However, he further said that the dry and cold air at different phases due to excessive exposure to an individual outside caused breaches in the lining of the respiratory tract, which might lead to an infection and damage the normal secretions inside the breathing organs.
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Precautions
He said the pulmonologists mostly advise the elderly above 50 years of age, vulnerable or patients of chronic heart, kidney, and lung diseases to take the flu vaccine during the peak winter season, which helps them to counter respiratory diseases.
He added people were also advised to avoid unwanted prolonged outdoor visits during the morning and evening timings of cold and dry weather. If needed, they should properly cover their eyes and face by wearing face masks and coverings.
He advised people to ensure more fluid intake, including warm water, hot tea etc., to control any damage to the respiratory tract amid bad weather and air quality.
