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Pakistan bans entry to parks, zoos as air pollution worsens
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Pakistan bans entry to parks, zoos as air pollution worsens

Pakistan’s Punjab banned entry to many public spaces, including parks and zoos, from Friday in a bid to protect residents from severe air pollution in parts of the eastern province .

The provincial capital, Lahore, has been shrouded in a thick haze of smoke this week and has been consistently ranked the world’s most polluted city by Swiss group IQAir in its live rankings, prompting school closures and working from home.

The Punjab government’s order on Friday imposed “a complete ban on public entry into all parks…zoos, playgrounds, historical places, monuments, museums and playgrounds” until November 17 in areas such as Lahore.

Many parts of South Asia suffer from severe pollution as temperatures drop each winter and cold, heavy air traps dust, emissions and smoke from stubble burning – the illegal practice of burning agricultural waste to quickly clean fields.

Punjab last week blamed toxic air coming from neighboring India – where air quality has also reached dangerous levels – for this year’s particularly high pollution.

On Friday, IQAir ranked the Indian capital New Delhi as the world’s second most polluted city, with government data showing that farm fires in the neighboring agricultural states of Punjab and Haryana were among the biggest contributors.

To discourage this practice, which has been less this year, the Indian federal government on Wednesday doubled the fines imposed on violators.

Farmers owning less than two acres of land will now have to pay 5,000 ($60) for violations. Those who own between two and five acres will pay 10,000 and farmers owning more than five acres will pay 30,000, the environment ministry said.