“We have started shifting to high quality fuel and now our focus is more on areas troubled with air pollution,” he said, adding that the government is working on installing 10 new modern stations for monitoring air quality in big cities. In Indiana, he said, a 90 per cent reduction in vehicle traffic has been observed, which improved the air quality. “Similarly, in China particularly Wuhan, the shutdown of transport and factories improved the air quality,” he maintained. Maryam Shabbir from SDPI said the air quality index in Lahore and Karachi on Tuesday was 75, and 67 respectively, which is considered moderate. Experts agreed that air quality has improved across the world due to lockdowns amid COVID-19 outbreak and stressed the need for regional cooperation to maintain air quality in the future by sharing data.

Source: Pakistan Today April 14, 2020 15:33 UTC