ISLAMABAD: One of the airsheds identified in Pakistan is Punjab, which receives on average 30% of the air pollution from the Indian state of Punjab under the predominant wind direction of the northwest to the southeast, according to a new World Bank report.
The volume over a given area of land that airborne chemicals travel through in order to reach a specific river, lake, bay, or other body of water is known as an airshed.
The northern/central Indus River plain and south Pakistan, both in the southern Indus plain, are additional airsheds in Pakistan with high spatial interdependence in air quality.
The report, which was made public on Wednesday, says that even though air pollution travels a long way in South Asia, it doesn’t spread evenly across the continent and stays in big airsheds.
The report, “Taking a stab at Clean Air: Air Contamination and General Wellbeing in South Asia”, expresses representing the relationship in air quality inside airsheds in South Asia is essential while weighing elective pathways for contamination control and broke down four elective pathways for diminishing air contamination in South Asia.
Nine of the ten most polluted cities in the world are located in South Asia, contributing to an estimated two million premature deaths and significant economic costs. According to the report, countries must coordinate their policies and investments in order to achieve clean air in the region. There are economically feasible and cost-effective solutions.
It says that in some of the poorest and most densely populated parts of the region, concentrations of fine particulate matter like soot and small dust are up to 20 times higher than what the WHO considers healthy.
Air pollution is mostly caused by large industries, power plants, and automobiles all over the world; however, in South Asia, other sources contribute significantly more.
Solid fuel combustion for cooking and heating, emissions from small businesses like brick kilns, the burning of municipal and agricultural waste, and cremation are all examples of these.
According to the report, utilizing spatial interdependence in air quality to implement cost-effective joint air pollution strategies could be made easier with regional cooperation.
