Lahore officials ditch cars, use bicycles to help raise awareness about smog

Islamabad: In order to raise public awareness about smog, the Water And Sanitation Authority (WASA) of Lahore has taken the lead among a plethora of government, semi-government and private departments of the provincial metropolis by deciding to cycle to their offices instead of using official or private vehicles.

From October 31 till the end of the smog season that usually prevails in the northern part of the Punjab for two months, every Saturday is devoted to bicycling.

In this regard, Saturday turned out to be the first day when the WASA officials, from the top management to the junior level, came to their offices by bicycles.

Pedaling to the office is not only good for health, it also breaks the taboo that using a bicycle to reach office was something inferior, said the Managing Director of the WASA Syed Zahid Aziz while talking to Gulf News.

Initially, we have decided to do this once in a week but by and by as some of us get used to it, they could completely switch to bicycling, he said.

Practise in park

A day earlier, on Friday, that was an official holiday, the WASA staff practised cycling in the Gaddafi Stadium of Lahore and helped each other learn how to control, speed and stop a bicycle.

WASA has become the first government organization of the Punjab as well as Pakistan that has come forward in line with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan who in his 2018 election campaigns had repeatedly referred to many countries like China and The Netherlands where people, even Prime Minister and members of the cabinet go to their offices on bicycle.

Introducing ‘car-pooling’

All the WASA officials including MD, Directors and assistant directors were on their cycles on Saturday and described the experience quite interesting and morale-boosting.

One of them said they were also going for ‘car-pooling’ that means a number of them could come to the office using one car. This would also help reduce smoke level in the air and ultimately bring down smog, he said.

Through bicycling we want to give a positive message to the officers of other departments that they should also come forward and adopt this healthy routine, said another official of the WASA.

Lahore worst-hit by smog

Lahore’s air pollution is already touching alarming level despite the fact winter has not formally set in and it is a bit pleasant these days.

On Saturday, by 6 p.m. the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) registered a score of 262 that is ‘Very Unhealthy.’ According to iqair.com, Lahore’s air quality deteriorated over the hours from 138 to 262 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good,’ 51 and 100 is considered ‘satisfactory,’ 101 to 200 ‘moderate,’ 201 to 300 ‘poor’ and 301 to 400 ‘very poor.’