Lahore World's Most Polluted City Again as Smog Hits AQI 447

Photo: Dawn (file photo of traffic in Lahore smog)

Lahore is back at the top of the world's most polluted city list. Early on Tuesday, the city's air quality index stood at 447, and across the border in Delhi, officials brought in curbs as the same thick pre winter smog settled over both capitals.

It is a grim repeat for Lahore. Just a day earlier, the city's air quality index crossed 530 on Monday, with five Punjab cities among the six most polluted places in the country. Tuesday's reading of 447 is lower than Monday's peak, but it was still enough to put Lahore first in the world in the early morning snapshot.

Reuters reported that the reading came from IQAir, a Swiss group that tracks air quality around the world. An index reading of up to 50 is seen as good, with little or no health risk. At 447, Lahore was nearly nine times that level.

The tiny particles behind the number are the real worry. Lahore's PM2.5 concentration, the fine dust that can get deep into the lungs, was 60 times higher than the World Health Organisation's yearly guideline. PM2.5 means particles no wider than 2.5 microns, small enough to reach the lungs and raise the risk of breathing trouble and heart problems.

Why now? This is the time of year when cold, still air traps smoke close to the ground. Exhaust from vehicles, dust from building sites and smoke from burning crop waste all pile up instead of blowing away. Authorities in Lahore pointed to a sharp fall in temperature and slow winds. Pakistan's government said it has stepped up action against brick kilns breaking environmental rules and keeps urging farmers not to burn crop waste after harvest.

Delhi is in the same trap. Its index stood at 215 on the IQAir scale, while India's own Central Pollution Control Board gave it 332 and rated it "very poor". The two numbers differ because the scales and methods differ, but both point the same way. Delhi's graded curbs, which limit polluting vehicles, building work and the use of coal and firewood in eateries, and push more public transport, took effect on Monday.

There is more bad news coming for Delhi. With the Hindu festival of Diwali falling on 8 November, fireworks are expected to add to the haze over the weekend. India's Supreme Court has allowed only low polluting fireworks, and only for three hours each on Saturday and Sunday.

What this means for you in Lahore is straightforward, and it has not changed since Monday: stay indoors if you can, keep windows and doors shut, and wear a mask if you have to go out. Children, older people and anyone with asthma or heart trouble face the highest risk. With dry weather forecast and no rain to wash the air clean, there is no quick relief in sight.

The comparison with Monday also shows how fast the air moves. One day it was 535, the next 447, and both days Lahore led the world. That is why a single morning reading never tells the full story, and why the daily pattern matters more than any one number. The smog is also one more cost on top of the fuel squeeze families are already feeling, from today's one day petrol price cut to the row between the government and refineries over who carries the cost.

Sources

Reuters: Lahore, Delhi choke as air pollution spikes in parts of South Asia

Channel News Asia (Reuters): Lahore, Delhi choke as air pollution spikes in parts of South Asia

The Straits Times (Reuters): Lahore and Delhi choke as air pollution spikes

Watch the next IQAir update and the weather forecast: with no rain expected, the question is whether Wednesday brings any relief at all.

#Lahore #Smog #AQI #Punjab #Pakistan #PakistanNews #AirPollution #Health