Residents in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Friday once again blasted the government for not outlining a working strategy to curb pollution in the country’s most congested city.

They said that despite recent snowfall, which to some extent cleared the air,  pollution is still causing severe health problems.
 

Zahir has been a shopkeeper in Kabul for ten years. He says that air pollution has been affecting his business massively.

“When there no pollution, we work until 1:00 am, but when there is pollution, we are forced to close our businesses and go home to avoid illness,” said Zahir.

“We demand the Kabul municipality  and environmental protection agencies to focus on this issue and help the people breathe in cleaner air,” said Ahmad, a resident in Kabul.
 

“There are factories and kilns that burn materials and add to the pollution. The government should concentrate on this problem, the government should decrease the price of gas so that the people avoid using plastics for heating,” said Hedayat, a resident in Kabul.

“There is a slight improvement in it, but the government needs to do more to protect the people, people are facing danger now,” said Mohammad Agha, a resident in Kabul.
 

Last month, the Afghan Ministry of Public Health claimed that at least 17 people died of respiratory infections and pollution-related illnesses in a single week, all due--according to the ministry--to the polluted air in the city.