ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani city of Lahore ranked the second-worst country globally for air quality on Monday, with pollution hitting levels reported as 31 times the WHO’s annual PM2.5 guideline value, according to global monitoring data, as the provincial government launched anti-smog operations ahead of the Hindu festival of Diwali.
Punjab province, and its capital Lahore, face a recurring “smog season” from October to February, driven by crop-residue burning, vehicular and industrial emissions, and stagnant winter weather conditions. The hazy blanket has previously pushed the Air Quality Index (AQI) into hazardous levels of above 300 in Lahore in November 2024, forcing school and office closures and reduced construction activity.
On Sunday, the Punjab Smog Monitoring Center forecast Lahore’s AQI between 210 and 230 and cautioned that morning and night hours would see the worst pollution, with a slight improvement expected between 1-5pm. On Monday morning, Pakistan ranked the second worst country globally for air quality, after Delhi, data from the Swiss air-quality monitoring organization, IQAir, revealed. The city had a PM2.5 concentration 31.1 times the World Health Organization annual PM2.5 guideline value.
