South Asia Chokes as Smog Season Returns

TaiwanPlus News

Intense seasonal smog has returned to South Asia, leaving residents of Pakistan and India's mega-cities struggling to breathe. Lahore's air quality was recently ranked the most polluted in the world.

Transcript

00:00A thick shroud of smog has fallen on Pakistan's megacity of Lahore, and it's not going anywhere.

00:07As in many of South Asia's packed metropolises, air pollution is a problem at the best of

00:11times, and it gets much, much worse here in winter, as cold air and the Himalayas lock

00:16in smoke, exhaust, and construction dust.

00:20Measurements show Lahore had the worst air quality anywhere on Earth Monday.

00:24But hazardous air pollution has been a problem for at least several days, and air quality

00:28is not expected to get better for some time.

00:31Schools have decided to adjust their schedules so that student pick-up and drop-off times

00:35avoid the worst of the smog.

00:37As for outdoor events, they're all cancelled, at least until the end of January.

00:41The air pollution is very bad in the morning, so the government has made sure that children

00:50come to school in the late hours so that the smog doesn't get worse.

00:57This is a good move by the government to make it easier for the children.

01:04But some parents doubt that even these measures will make much of a difference.

01:07The timing of the measures is the same, even at 8 or 8.30, even at 9, the smog is the same

01:12all day long.

01:13It's just a disturbance.

01:14Now we're on duty, we have to go to work at 7.30 or 8.30, we have to go to work at

01:207.30 or 8.30, how will we leave the children?

01:22You know the situation, you can't send them alone.

01:25The timing should be the same, 8.30 or 8.15, that's fine.

01:30The children come home at 12 or 1, and now they come home at 3.

01:343.30 or 3.15.

01:36The situation's not much better in neighbouring India.

01:39From Delhi to Mumbai, officials classified air quality as moderate to very poor.

01:44All the haze has sickened some residents.

01:48There's a lot of air pollution in Delhi.

01:50I can't breathe.

01:51I've been sick for the past four days because of the air pollution.

01:56It's so difficult to breathe, I'm coughing.

02:01To address the situation, several Indian states are putting controls or bans on fireworks

02:06and firecrackers during the upcoming Hindu Festival of Lights, Diwali.

02:10But while this may help, many of the root causes of the smog, including vehicle emissions,

02:16burning charcoal and wood for heat in the cold winter,

02:18and the practice of burning off fields after harvest, are still in place.

02:22So thick clouds of pollution will continue to hang over the region

02:25until the end of what some now call the region's fifth season.

02:29Kama Hsu and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.

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