Schools in Punjab closed till Nov 17 due to smog

RAWALPINDI:  The Punjab government has issued orders to close private and public schools in all districts of the province due to increasing smog and air pollution.

Due to increasing smog and air pollution in Punjab, it has been decided to keep all schools completely closed till November 17.

Earlier, it was decided to keep educational institutions closed in 8 districts of Punjab including Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan, Rawalpindi, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sargodha and Sahiwal among other districts. Orders have been issued to close the school, the notification of which has also been issued.

According to the notification, all government and private schools in the province will remain closed till November 17, while the notification has directed that the government-run educational institutions, tuition centers be shifted to online session.

According to the authorities, the decision to keep the educational institutions closed has been taken due to the increase in air quality index and increase in respiratory, eye and throat diseases due to air pollution.

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Earlier,  United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has warned that highly polluted air in Pakistan’s Punjab province is posing severe risks to people, including more than 11 million children under the age of five.

Air pollution levels broke records in the provincial capital, Lahore, and several other districts this past week, surpassing the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines by more than 100 times, the UN agency reported in a statement issued in Islamabad and New York.

It stated that hundreds of people, including dozens of children, have been hospitalized in hard-hit cities, and the pollution is so severe that it is visible from space.