Question: One the basis of the information given in the case study, evaluate

what are the reasons of the improvement of Air Quality Index (AQI). Also
discuss the situation happening in Pakistan?
Answer: Air Quality Index (AQI) is a pretty robust metric which reflects the air pollution levels
and hence a very good way to understand the impact of the lockdown, at least on our lower
atmosphere. You can see the variations of pollutant levels over the world with each passing
week. The NO2 levels have taken a huge hit since there are practically no cars on the street and
very few industries operating. The most differences will be seen for Italy, Spain, Iran where the
most stringent lockdowns are in place to tackle the widespread of the virus. Los Angeles
recorded one of the very earliest cases in the USA and hence measures like work from-home
restricted travel started at the ground level well before the authorities stepped in. The results are
quite visible. You can check out the drastic difference between the NO2 levels over California
and other US cities. In fact, people in New Delhi have been seeing such low AQI levels in a long
long time. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), nine out of ten people now
breathe polluted air, which annually kills seven million people. The deaths, in turn, cost the
global economy billions of dollars in lost labor. While many countries of the world have
significantly improved the quality of their air, for other nations, including Pakistan, there is
still a long way to go as it does not actively monitor air quality. Data compiled by the Global
Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP) shows that in Pakistan, an estimated 128,000 people
die each year from diseases related to air pollution. Amid all the depressing news and sad times
we face globally, there are aspects to reflect upon, especially on the environment and pollution.
Air quality levels across the South Asian region are the worst, with Bangladesh, Pakistan and
India making it to the top five in the list of most polluted countries as mentioned in 2019 World
Air Quality Report by IQ Air. But over past weeks the air quality improvements have come as a
by-product of the lockdowns due to coronavirus outbreak across the globe, this sheds lights on
some aspects on the issue of environment and pollution which otherwise gets hardly any serious
attention in the larger scheme of things. Air pollution levels across geographies have reduced
considerably due to reduced fossil fuel consumption in transportation, industries and power
plants along with reduction in other sources of pollution. Real time ambient air quality data
availability is very scarce in Pakistan and in absence of such data sets, it becomes very difficult
for the policy makers, media, civil society organisation and general public to understand the
impact of certain policy decisions or interventions on air quality levels and public health.
Luckily, with advancements in remote sensing and satellite data acquisition as well as
advancement of the technology it has become convenient for researchers and analysts to assess
prevailing pollution levels in areas with or without much ground pollution monitoring data being
made available in public domain. Last few weeks data for Pakistan has shown that the lockdown
in Pakistan has resulted in a drastic drop in pollution level in many cities across the country.
NO2 primarily gets in the air from the burning of fuel and mainly formed by emissions from
cars, trucks and buses, power plants, and off-road equipment. Most of these activities being
absent/reduced due to nationwide lockdown, the emissions have gone down drastically. Two
NO2 hotspots which were visible before the lockdown around Lahore in areas like Lahore-
Sheikhupura road (North-West of Lahore) and Raiwind to Pattoki belt (South of Lahore) with
clusters of oil based power plants have reduced considerably indicating decrease in
operations. Similarly, for Karachi the satellite data indicates that there were significant
reductions in emissions but areas around Korangi-Landhi industrial areas as well as around
fertilizer and cement plants at Bin Qasim port still appear to be hotspots for NO2 emissions
indicating that some of these facilities were still in operation during the lockdown. Another
reason for the marginal changes in NO2 emissions is the sudden drop in urban traffic, which by
some estimates declined as much as 65% across Pakistan. Using anonymised geolocation data,
Google estimates that Pakistanis under the lockdown largely stayed away from businesses, parks,
shopping centers and workplaces. Poor fuel quality and increasing vehicle concentration have
been blamed as the primary cause of poor air quality in Pakistan, and the drastic decrease in
vehicular mobility has cut down a major proportion of urban emissions. NO2 is a dangerous
pollutant, responsible for an estimated 120,000 new cases of child asthma and 4,000 premature
deaths per year in Pakistan. It is also a key contributor to PM2.5 formation. The graphs and maps
above show that the pollution problem can be tackled and clean skies and breathable air is
achievable in Pakistan. Although the current situation and restrictions are not recommended as a
way to clean the air which brings huge suffering to the citizens of the country. But these testing
times have at-least made us realise and get a sense of how clear skies look like and at the same
time have given us hope that we can have breathable clean air if we act concretely to reduce
pollution at source. The ongoing lockdown helping clean the air also shows that the linkage of
air pollution levels in South Asian region are very strongly associated with bigger economic
activities (Transportation, energy production and industrial activities) along with small scale
interventions at city levels. This tells us that in order to avoid pollution levels bouncing back as
the economy turns a corner and the coronavirus crisis passes, a shift from the current highly
fossil fuel dependent economy to clean energy based systems has to be adopted. Moving forward
we will need to

1. Adopt state of the art more efficient pollution/emission control technologies for the
industries, power generation facilities and transport vehicles to reduce their emission load
and pollution.
2. Fast-track deployment of new Hydro-cracking refineries as well as installation of Diesel
Hydro-desulphurisation (DHDS) units in existing local refineries to move towards Low
Sulphur fuels, while renegotiating import contracts to opt for cleaner Euro-6 gasoline and
diesel.
3. Switch our transportation system from being biased towards promoting privatised modes
of transportation to better public transportation facilities and systems.
4. Develop Non-Motorised-Transportation (NMT) systems such as walking and cycling as
modes for movement for citizens rather than vehicles. And,
5. Invest aggressively in cleaner and renewable energy sources.