Growing pollution in Pakistan’s Punjab province has sickened 1.8M people in a month, officials say

Associated Press

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Officials say worsening air pollution in the past month has sickened an estimated 1.8 million people in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province. Ahsan Riaz, a spokesman for the health department said that most of those people have been suffering from respiratory diseases and burning of eyes. The increasing smog has forced authorities to shut schools across the province for five days to protect children’s health. The government last week also ordered the closure of all parks and museums for 10 days, and urged people to avoid unnecessary travel, as it struggles to tackle a record wave of smog.