A plan to plant 600,000 six-foot saplings in vacant spaces has been put into place to combat the rising air pollution in Lahore.
A plan to plant 600,000 six-foot saplings in vacant spaces has been put into place to combat the rising air pollution in Lahore.
To ensure successful implementation, a joint committee made up of the Lahore District Administration and the Forest Department was established. A list of unused planting sites has now been requested by the Lahore Commissioner.
Additionally, planting trees along the routes connecting Lahore to other districts has been delegated to the pertinent districts and Parks and Horticulture Authorities (PHAs). Each sapling will be geotagged and uploaded to a dashboard so that the planting campaign can be monitored for success.
This initiative’s overall objective is to plant 600,000 trees in Lahore in order to reduce air pollution and create a cleaner environment.
This choice is a crucial one in the effort to lessen the negative effects of air pollution on people’s health and wellbeing while also highlighting the significance of environmental preservation and sustainability for coming generations.
The burning of crop residue and other waste products, industrial emissions from vehicles, brick kiln smoke, construction site dust, and crop residue all contribute to the air pollution in Lahore.
Large-scale tree removal for the construction of new roads and buildings is another contributing factor to air pollution. Temperature inversions make winter air pollution worse by preventing a layer of warm air from rising and trapping air pollutants.
In 2022, Lahore in Pakistan had the worst air in the world, according to a global survey conducted annually by a Swiss air purifier manufacturer.
Lahore is now the most polluted city in the world after its air quality deteriorated to 97.4 micrograms of PM2.5 particles per cubic metre from 86.5 in 2021. Lahore was followed by Hotan, the only Chinese city in the top 20, with PM2.5 levels of 94.3, a decrease from 101.5 in 2021.