South Asia’s extreme smog worsens each winter, helping to kill an estimated 1.2 million Indians and 128,000 Pakistanis annually more than have died in either country from the COVID virus. As pollution this past winter exacerbated the pandemic, India’s and Pakistan’s governments responded with mutual blame. Yet COVID, and a sudden moment of détente between these bitter rivals, could offer an opportunity to address the smog crisis, and build rare collaboration with the only strategy that can work: a joint one. The governments, their U.S. and international allies and civil society should use this chance to jumpstart such an effort.
Vietnam considers shutting down polluting facilities to improve air quality
By Dang Khoa January 20, 2021 | 03:12 pm GMT+7
A coal-fired power plant in Thai Binh Province, northern Vietnam. Photo by VnExpress/Gia Chinh.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered state agencies to monitor factory emissions and clamp down on those found to exceed dangerous levels.
Phuc called on provincial and urban authorities to immediately review and evaluate industrial plant, transport and construction emissions.
He asked law enforcement agencies to suspend operations negatively impacting the environment.
The directive mentioned the worsening air quality in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and other localities, affecting socio-economic development and public health. It blamed the low air quality on large-scale construction, emissions from a large number of private vehicles, and intensive industrial activity.
THE dreaded ‘fifth season’ has arrived. A sombre grey shroud has enveloped the city of Lahore and the adjoining towns and cities, reminding the poor once again that no one is looking out for them. While those who can afford it might invest in precautions like air purifiers; they may be able to shut their doors and windows, etc. However, people whose livelihoods depend on them plying the roads at any time of the day and night, or those living in low-income localities next to industrial areas can do little except hope that the authorities take some measures for them to be able to, quite literally, breathe easier.