Health Emergency.

The Indian government has declared a health emergency as the air quality in Delhi reaches hazardous levels. Schools have been shut down till next Tuesday to avoid exposing children to such air quality. Such efforts on part of the Indian government show how seriously the government is responding to the crisis of smog as opposed to its counterpart here in Pakistan. The situation in Lahore right now is worse than Delhi but the government neither recognises the problem nor is coming up with ideas to solve it. Chief Minister in India Arvind Kejriwal on Friday distributed over 50 lakh masks to school children and appealed to other residents to use them too. This is the most simple yet effective step any government can take in order to buy time and manage the situation: a solution our government can look into too.

Very similar to the Pakistani government though, the Indian government blamed neighbouring countries for the poor air condition in their own country. Adjoining countries need to take charge of the crop burning that persists within their borders and discourage the activity to prevent any damage within their own land and their neighbour's land. Several countries have also come up with innovative solutions to their smog problem. If we look at our ally, China, their most...