Thousands fall ill in eastern Pakistan due to heavy smog, forcing closure of schools, markets, parks
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP)(PTI): Toxic gray smog has sickened tens of thousands of people in Pakistan’s cultural capital of Lahore, forcing authorities to shut schools, markets and parks for four days, officials said Thursday.
The decision came after the country’s second-largest city was repeatedly ranked the world’s most polluted city. Doctors advised people to wear face masks and stay at home. Residents said many people were coughing and having breathing problems.
“Wearing of marks and staying at home are the two easiest solutions to avoid getting rushed to hospitals with respiratory-related diseases, infections in eyes and skin diseases,” said Salman Kazmi, a doctor at Lahore’s main Mayo Hospital, where thousands of people were treated for such ailments this week.
On Thursday, the concentration of PM 2.5, or tiny particulate matter, in the air approached 450, considered hazardous.
Experts say the burning of crop residue at the start of the winter wheat-planting season is a key cause of the pollution.
Lahore was once known as the city of gardens, which were ubiquitous during the Mughal era of the 16th to 19th centuries. But rapid urbanization and surging population growth have left little room for greenery in the city.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Drunk woman held for hitting police constable with car in Rohini
New Delhi (PTI): A 40-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly ramming a car into a police barricade and injuring a constable in northwest Delhi's Rohini, police said on Friday.
The incident took place on December 24 in Sector 11 of Rohini where a barricade had been placed, they said.
According to police, a caller informed them that a female driver, apparently drunk, had hit a police constable with her car.
A police team rushed to the spot and found the white car that had struck the barricade.
The woman, a resident of Sector 16, Rohini, was found to be under the influence of alcohol, police said.
Constable Rohit, posted with the 1st Battalion of the Delhi Armed Police, who suffered injuries in the collision, was taken to BSA Hospital for treatment, police said.
They said the woman, who works in the private sector, was returning home from a birthday party when the incident occurred.
She was arrested, and her car was seized, they said.
