Air quality getting better due to lockdown

Prime Minister’s Advisor on Climate Change Malik Aslam has said the world has observed an improvement in air quality because it is affected by with industrial and transport emissions which mean that people’s willingness to adopt a better lifestyle.

Air quality getting better due to lockdownMalik Aslam said while addressing an online policy dialogue titled “COVID-19 and Air Quality” arranged by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) that air pollution is a regional issue, therefore regional collaboration is needed to overcome the issue.

He discussed the damage done to the environment due to increasing pollution. One positive aspect of COVID-19 is that nature is healing due to the shutting of factories and transport.

He mentioned that we all know that climate change is no longer a natural phenomenon, but it is occurring due to human activities, which must be run under certain SOPs for which national policies need to be devised.

He told that the Ministry of Climate Change is considering engaging daily wagers with proper protective measures in tree plantations drives to make the environment and people better simultaneously while also creating a source for daily wagers to earn something during the lockdown.

He further told that we have started shifting to high quality fuel and now our focus is more on areas troubled with air pollution. Government is working on installing 10 new modern stations for monitoring air quality in big cities.

SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri said if we can close down our activities due to fear of pandemic, then we can also reduce our activities voluntarily post COVID-19 to make our air clean and breathable.

Indiana University Center for Urban Health Director Professor Gabriel Filippelli said the pandemic has caused some substantial changes in human behaviour, like staying at home with minimal transport and shutting down of factories.

He said, a 90 per cent reduction in vehicle traffic has been observed in Indiana which improved the air quality.

He said the electric vehicles policy is in the offing and soon the country will move on from manufacturing two-wheelers to making to 3 and 4 wheelers.

Maryam Shabbir from SDPI said the air quality index in Lahore and Karachi on Tuesday was 75, and 67 respectively, which is considered moderate.

She further said that it depicts that air quality is getting better in such difficult situation as factories are closed and transport is minimal causing less pollution.

Experts agreed that air quality has improved globally due to lockdowns amid COVID-19 outbreak and stressed the need for regional cooperation to continue air quality in the future by sharing data.

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