Pakistan: Sindh govt urges public to wear face masks amid worsening air quality

Sindh [Pakistan], November 28 (ANI): Sindh’s caretaker Chief Minister, Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar, has called on the public to ensure the use of face masks amid Karachi’s worsening air quality, ARY News reported.

ARY News is a Pakistani news channel.

As per a statement by the Sindh Chief Minister’s House, the province’s chief executive has urged the educational institutes to ensure that students wear face masks to “protect themselves from illnesses concomitant with smog.”

Furthermore, the chief minister also urged all stakeholders to “move beyond car-centric infrastructure” and instead invest in public transport and pedestrian-friendly alternatives.

Currently, Swiss air quality technology company, IQAir ranks Karachi as the third city with the worst air quality index in the world.

This comes as various parts of Pakistan face severe smog amid worsening pollution levels.

AQI as high as 151-200 is considered unhealthy, while an AQI rating between 201-300 is more harmful and AQI over 300 has been extremely hazardous.

In winter, the air becomes heavier as compared to summer, causing poisonous particles in the atmosphere to move downward and making the atmosphere polluted. As a result, a layer of polluted particles, including large amounts of carbon and smoke, covers an area.

Recently, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in Pakistan’s Punjab notified the imposition of smart lockdown in ten districts in view of the recent smog situation, ARY News reported.

The province has been consistently retaining its top spot on the list of the most polluted cities in the world.

As per details, the smart lockdown will remain enforced in Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Multan, Sahiwal, and Sargodha divisions. The educational institutions are also closed in the aforesaid districts.