Pakistan bans entry to parks, zoos as air pollution worsens

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By Mubasher Bukhari

LAHORE (Reuters) – Pakistan’s Punjab banned entry to many public spaces from Friday, including parks and zoos, as it sought to protect people from severe air pollution in parts of the eastern province.

The provincial capital Lahore has been engulfed in a thick, smoky haze this week and was consistently rated the world’s most polluted city by Swiss group IQAir in its live rankings, prompting the closure of schools and work-from-home mandates.

The Punjab government’s Friday order placed a “complete ban on public entry in all parks … zoos, play grounds, historical places, monuments, museums and joy/play lands” until Nov. 17 in areas including Lahore.

Many parts of South Asia suffer severe pollution as temperatures drop each winter and cold, heavy air traps dust, emissions, and smoke from stubble burning – the illegal practice of burning crop waste to quickly clear fields.

Punjab last week blamed toxic air wafting in from neighbouring India – where air quality has also reached hazardous levels – for the particularly high pollution this year.

IQAir rated the Indian capital New Delhi the world’s second most polluted city on Friday, with government data indicating that farm fires in the neighbouring farming states of Punjab and Haryana were among the major contributors.

To discourage the practice which has been lower this year, India’s federal government doubled fines imposed on violators on Wednesday.

Farmers with less than two acres of land will now have to pay 5,000 rupees ($60) for violations. Those owning between two and five acres will pay 10,000 rupees and farmers with more than five acres will pay 30,000 rupees, the environment ministry said.

(Writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by YP Rajesh and Ros Russell)