Lahore has returned to the top of the world’s most polluted cities list on Sunday, with polluted air posing a threat to public health. The Air Quality Index recorded 269 in the city, with wind blowing at five kilometres per hour.
Officials said air quality could improve as wind speed rises to 11 kilometres per hour around noon. Other places in Punjab also recorded high readings, including Faisalabad at 183, Rahim Yar Khan at 177, Gujranwala at 174 and Bahawalpur at 172.
Health experts urge residents to limit time outdoors
Health experts said air pollution and smog cause breathing problems, eye irritation and sore throats. They advised citizens to avoid going out of their homes unnecessarily.
Also read: Lahore stays top of polluted cities list amid poor air quality · Delhi overtakes Lahore as world's most polluted city on Friday
Provincial Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said weather conditions cannot be controlled, but local sources of pollution are the government’s responsibility. She said no leniency is being shown in tackling them. The minister also urged farmers to avoid burning crop remainders and asked citizens to avoid creating smoke.
Smog linked to diesel fumes and crop burning in Lahore
Air pollution and smog haunt Punjab with the onset of winter, and authorities made desperate efforts to contain smog in previous years. For days, Lahore has been enveloped by smog, a mix of fog and pollutants caused by low-grade diesel fumes, seasonal agricultural burning and cooling air as temperatures drop.
Air pollution in Lahore once soared to more than 80 times the level deemed hygienic by the World Health Organization.
