"Saans Lenay Dou" - Let Us Breathe!

Smog between the months of October and January has become a fifth season in Lahore, Pakistan. Smog is an accumulation of toxic PM 2.5 particles that suspend in air creating a fog-like effect. Rapid industrialization and uninhibited urban development that has catered to the desires of the socioeconomically privileged classes of Lahore are prime contributors to smog (Razi et. al., 2019; Raza et. al., 2021).

Research studies have shown that smog has a range of health impacts which include lung and heart diseases, specific impacts on women such as losses in pregnancies (Xue et. al., 2021), and other cognitive and immune disorders, especially among the elderly (Simoni et. al, 2015). On average, a resident in Lahore is losing 5.3 years of their life as a result of breathing in smog (EPIC, 2019). The impacts, however, are disproportionately worse for socioeconomically poor people in the city who do not have the resources to buy expensive air purifiers, or specialized face masks. Most of these people rely on occupations that earn a daily wage and are conducted in open air, for example day laborer’s, fruit and vegetable sellers.  As a result, they are exposed to toxic air for longer periods of time and cannot even suspend their activities on days when the air quality reaches hazardous levels without adding to their mental and financial stress (Jabeen, Ali, and Maharjan, 2021). Hence, smog is an environmental justice issue and should be treated as such by planners and policy makers.

In this podcast, I will illustrate how using an intersectional lens and environmental justice concerns, we can address the issue of smog effectively and with outcomes that are equitable and socially just. The podcast is named after the civil society led ‘Saans Lenay Dou’ campaign - literally translates to ‘let us breathe!’  The campaign employs a rights-based approach (Boyd, 2019), highlighting citizens’ rights to breathe in clean air and lead healthy lives. They use a range of mediums like street protests, social media campaigns etc. to advocate for solutions that are equitable and just.

Using the podcast, I will first contextualize the smog crisis in Lahore by foregrounding the problem in the city’s urban development paradigm where urban sprawl has been promoted, without actively planning for/considering the health and wellbeing of all those who reside in the city (Safwan, 2020). I will also contrast the severity of the crisis to the local government’s ad-hoc, ineffective and selective response to the smog crisis which exacerbates existing socioeconomic vulnerabilities. Finally, I will end on a note of hope for the future by highlighting the role being played by civil society actors such as the ‘Saans Lenay Dou’ campaign. The campaign has brought together people from across the socioeconomic spectrum to push the government to take concerted steps to address smog. Their prime emphasis is to work on solutions that especially tend to the needs of those bearing disproportionate burden of smog; these include women, elderly, and the socioeconomically underprivileged people in the city.

References

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Anjum M. S., Ali, S. M., Imad-ud-din, M., Subhani, M. A., Anwar, M. N., Nizami, A-S., Ashraf, U., &Khokhar, M. F. (2021). An Emerged Challenge of Air Pollution and Ever-Increasing Particulate Matter in Pakistan; A Critical Review. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123943

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Picture credits: Arif Ali/AFP/Getty images. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/25/pakistan-orders-monday-closure-of-schools-and-offices-in-lahore-to-cut-smog