While travelling through the GT Road, Ferozepur Road, Multan Road or Canal Road in Lahore, you will surely see some vehicles, especially rickshaws or motorcycles emitting thick black smoke. These drivers may not realise the extent of environmental pollution they are causing.

Smoke from rickshaws and cars causes breathing difficulties in many areas of Lahore, including Nishtar Road, Du Moria Pul and Garhi Shahu.

Air pollution and its effects

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), air pollution is contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment by any chemical, physical or biological agent that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere. Household combustion devices, motor vehicles, industrial facilities and forest fires are common sources of air pollution.

According to the WHO, burning fossil fuels (petrol, diesel, etc) releases carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide gases, which are major causes of disease and death.

Dr Salman Kazmi, a senior medical expert at Mayo Hospital Lahore, says the primary cause for the spread of cancer, asthma and other respiratory diseases in Pakistan is the surplus of toxic substances in diesel and petrol. It results in several allergies, diseases and eye infections.

State of air pollution in Lahore

According to an air pollution monitoring organization across the world, the Air Quality Index, Pakistan was the second most polluted country in 2018 where the annual PM2.5 average was 74.3 micrograms per cubic meter.

Moreover, according to the World Air Quality Report in the same year, Lahore ranked 10th while Faisalabad ranked third in air pollution.

Lahore has to face the worst air pollution during the winter season usually from October to February due to the burning of crop residues in the rural areas along with traffic fumes in the city.

In November 2019, Lahore consistently ranked second in the world (the first being Delhi) and sometimes it even overtook the Indian capital.

According to AQUICN, another international air pollution monitoring organisation, if the air pollution level is between 0 and 50, it has good quality, but it is satisfactory between 51 and 100. The same source states that if the air pollution is between 101 and 150, it is not suitable for sensitive or sick people. Similarly, the 151 to 200 range is harmful to everyone’s health while 201 to 300 remains extremely dangerous. However, if this level exceeds 300, it becomes hazardous. Unfortunately, Lahore has exceeded all these limits several times.

The AQUICN report shows that last October, Lahore’s air pollution level was between 200 and 400 for nine days while it was between 200 and 400 for 14 days in November.

It exceeded the limit last December, when the air quality index crossed 400 for four days, while it remained between 300 and 400 for 13 days and 200 to 300 for 13 days. The index was above 400 for one day in January this year, while remained between 300 and 400 for 18 days.

Vehicular traffic, the main contributor

According to a 2021 study report by the Asia Europe Foundation, there are more than 19.6m vehicles in Punjab, of which 6.2m (about one-third) are registered in Lahore.

Out of the total number of vehicles in this district, the number of auto-rickshaws is more than 200,000, while that of motorcycles is 4.2m, which is 68pc of the total number of vehicles.

The Punjab Urban Unit’s Emission Inventory of 2023 shows that transport is the cause of more than 83pc of Lahore’s air pollution.

According to the same report, the number of vehicles in the provincial capital of Punjab has been rapidly increasing every year since 2011. In 2011, this number was more than 2.3m, which increased to 5.1m in 2019, 5.7m in 2020, and 6.2m by the end of 2021.

Between 2011 and 2021, Lahore recorded a 69pc increase in the total number of motorcycles/scooters.

EVs—a way out

According to experts, the promotion of electric vehicles (EVs) can help curb the increase in air pollution, which will also downsize traffic noise in the city. For this purpose, e-vehicles are being introduced in Punjab, while e-rickshaws and e-motorcycles have also started appearing on the roads.

Under the same policy, the provincial government has banned the manufacturing of motorcycle-rickshaws and auto-rickshaws in Lahore while e-rickshaws and motorcycles have been introduced as their alternatives.

Provincial Transport Minister Bilal Akbar Khan confirms that 70 to 80pc of Lahore's air pollution is caused by transport while traditional rickshaws and motorcycles are responsible for 70pc of this pollution. Therefore, the government has decided to electrify rickshaws and motorcycles in the first phase.

“If we can electrify two-wheelers and three-wheelers, the air quality of the city will improve by 30 to 40pc. It will also reduce the use of expensive petrol, which has become unaffordable for the citizens, specifically the students,” says Khan.

Punjab Environment Protection Department Director Naseem Rehman says e-vehicles will not use any fossil fuel and there will be no pollution.

Fahad, a young activist working for environmental protection, lauds the government’s decision to introduce EVs. Though he believes that it will not reduce air pollution as the number of petrol vehicles will remain the same. However, we will not see an increase in the new petrol and diesel vehicles every year.

“At least we have to entirely ban rickshaws using substandard fuel.”

Davar Butt, a public policy and environment expert, believes that it is great that the Punjab government and related departments are taking account of the harm and gravity of environmental pollution. In this regard, the Air Quality Policy 2023 has also mentioned long-term and short-term measures to eliminate the causes of pollution but there is no implementation.

He says that since 2018, we have been hearing about has start of electric buses in Lahore, but the policy has not yet been implemented. However, the production and assembly of electric rickshaws and motorcycles has started, while the government has also decided to provide 10 thousand e-motorcycles in instalments, but this is not enough.

He also supports Fahad Malik’s point of banning motorcycle-rickshaws and auto-rickshaws and replacing them with electric ones.

Will EVs lead to zero pollution?

While there is a possibility of pollution reduction using e-vehicles, some experts believe that the claim of zero pollution generation is not right.

A report by the San Francisco Estuary Institute and Aqua Science Center states that extremely small particles from vehicle tyres also cause pollution. According to this report, three to five-and-a-half kilograms of microplastic particles produced annually from car tyres.

Dr Ayesha Liaquat, a professor of the Department of Environment at a private university in Lahore, says that whenever a gasoline-fueled or electric vehicle runs on the road, very small particles are separated from the tyre with each cycle, which raises air pollution.

She further says that a special type of chemical ‘PPD6’ is used in tyre manufacturing, which prevents the rubber from cracking. This chemical is washed off by rain into rivers and oceans, causing severe damage to aquatic life.

Dr Ayesha says that e-vehicles need stronger tyres than normal ones due to the use of heavy batteries that are the source of pollution.

According to her, the need of the hour is to keep an eye on new developments and policies so that we can overcome the problem of pollution.