Lahore
Better Off Together!
The Punjab Government’s recent initiative to engage in diplomatic dialogue with its counterparts in India is a welcome move.
Yet another annual recurrence of smog has engulfed 18 districts of the Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, and Multan divisions of the Punjab province of Pakistan. The air quality index (AQI) of Lahore is reported as ‘Severely Hazardous’, which, on occasion, has reached four times the critical value of 300-350 and is classified as ‘Hazardous.’ On the other side of the border, New Delhi is the worst affected city in India, along with Noida, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Bhiwadi, Patna, Rohtak, Muzaffarnagar, and Sonipat. The usual administrative measure taken to lower the impact includes the temporary closure of schools, mandatory public use of masks, and a temporary ban on the entry of heavy vehicles into cities. Such air quality not only disrupts the flow of vehicular traffic but also exposes the public to respiratory diseases such as asthma, cough, breathing difficulties, eye irritation, etc.
For almost a decade, major cities on both sides of the Pakistan-India border experienced severe smog from mid-October through January each year. The annual return of smog is tied up with the onset of dry and cool periods of 10-15 weeks during autumn and winter, which causes the moist, smoky, dust-filled air to condense into smog, especially coinciding with crop harvesting time. Hence, typically, it is a temporary hazard that dies off when the temperature returns to normal and rainfall starts. However, bad quality air prevails around the year due to particulate matter and smoke emitted from industrial, transport, and agriculture sectors all year round. Therefore, neutralizing smog requires controlling emissions at the source around the year using given technologies since imported technologies are often costly and unaffordable.
Given the somewhat broader geographic scale of the hazard, spreading over dozens of cities on either side of the border and causing health risks for millions of people, neutralizing ambient air particulate matter (PM), though very crucial for improving air quality, especially risking the quality of human health and environment is almost impossible. However, a combination of the most effective technologies that focus on capturing, reducing, or neutralizing both PM2.5 (fine particles) and PM10 (coarse particles) at the emission source can be employed successfully. Besides, green technologies such as electric or hybrid transport vehicles, better-quality fuels, cloud seeding for artificial rain, and extensive tree cover can help reduce the intensity of the problem.
The following impactful technologies currently used or under development offer solutions to improve the air quality at the source, which, if enforced properly, can be substantially effective. These include Electrostatic Separators (ESPs), High-Efficiency Particulate Air Filters (HEPAF), Photocatalytic Oxidation (PCO), Electrostatic Spraying, Wet Scrubbers, Cyclone Separators, Ambient Air Purification Towers, Ionizers and Plasma Technology, Nanotechnology, and installing catalytic converters in automobiles.
Electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) charge particles in the air by passing them through an electric field. The charged particles then move towards collector plates of opposite charge, where they adhere and are removed from the air. ESPs are highly efficient, capturing up to 99% of particles, especially for industrial emissions, and are widely used in power plants, cement kilns, and steel mills. High-efficiency particulate Air (HEPA) Filters force air through a fine mesh that traps particles as small as 0.3 microns, including dust, pollen, smoke, and bacteria. Such filters are highly effective for indoor applications, removing over 99.97% of particles in targeted spaces.
Wet scrubbers use water spray to capture particles in the air. As the air passes through the liquid mist, particles attach to droplets and are removed from the airstream. Effective at removing both PM and gases, scrubbers can capture particles as small as 0.1 microns. However, wet scrubbers consume water and require systems to handle and dispose of the liquid waste, making them primarily suitable for industrial applications. Cyclone separators use centrifugal force to separate particles from the airstream. Air enters the cyclone in a spiral motion, forcing heavier particles to move toward the walls, where they are collected. Cyclones are effective for larger particles (PM10) and can achieve efficiencies up to 90%. They are widely used in industrial settings for pre-cleaning before further filtration.
Photochemical oxidation uses ultraviolet (UV) light in combination with a photocatalyst (like titanium dioxide) to generate reactive radicals that break down airborne pollutants, including PM. PCO is highly effective for decomposing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and some airborne biological particles. Some new designs target fine particulate matter by breaking down its components. The technology’s effectiveness for large-scale outdoor applications is still under research, and it has limitations in low-light or polluted environments. Like ESPs, electrostatic spraying charges water or other liquids, spraying them as a mist in outdoor areas. Particles adhere to the charged droplets, settling on surfaces instead of airborne. This technique has successfully suppressed PM in construction sites and urban areas, especially for temporary pollution events.
Ambient air purification towers draw in large volumes of air, filter out PM, and release clean air. Some prototypes use a combination of HEPA, activated carbon, and PCO technologies. Urban air purification towers are experimental but have shown promise in heavily polluted cities like China and India. Still, these are expensive to install and maintain and are primarily suitable for targeted locations rather than large-scale, citywide purification. Ionizers release ions that attach to particles into the air, causing them to become heavy and settle out of the air. Plasma systems use similar principles with a more intense ionized environment. These technologies are effective in indoor environments for reducing PM and VOCs. Some advanced models are being tested for urban outdoor applications. Ionizers can produce ozone as a byproduct, which may have adverse health effects if not well-regulated. Nanofiber filters and coatings are designed to capture ultrafine particles more effectively than traditional filters. Some nanomaterials are also being developed for photocatalytic or other advanced air-cleaning applications. Combining these methods, especially when integrated with citywide pollution management policies, green infrastructure, and emission control, may prove the most effective strategy for combating atmospheric particulate matter.
Multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and, in some cases, bilateral agreements between adjacent countries are examples of diplomatic agreements between nations to resolve long-standing environmental issues through mutual efforts and collaboration. In this context, climate diplomacy and now smog diplomacy have the potential to succeed, though apparently a non-starter given the perpetual acrimony between the two countries.
However, to overcome the inability of either side countries to overcome the most pressing and persistent technical issue of improving ambient air quality by neutralizing particulate air pollution despite legislative and administrative measures independently, the recent initiative of the Punjab government to indulge in diplomatic dialogue with their counterparts in India is a welcome move for a noble cause. It provides an opportunity for the two archrivals to cooperate and collaborate in the field of technology development jointly by pooling human, material, data, and financial resources from public and private sectors from either side. It must be remembered that particulate air pollution is a technical issue that can be resolved directly through technological solutions with appropriate policies and legislative measures in place.
The writer is Advisor to the Quality Assurance Program, Higher Education Department, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He can be reached at srsyed55@gmail.com
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