Lahore, Multan AQI news: Pakistan is presently grappling with an extreme pollutants disaster, with Air Quality Index (AQI) levels exceeding 1000 in multiple cities. Lahore formerly recorded an AQI of 1300, but now Multan has reached an alarming 2135 AQI, making it the most polluted city globally. The choking pollution levels have led Pakistan to impose smog lockdowns in seven cities.
According to the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, the smog situation in Punjab province is worsening swiftly. On Friday morning, Multan’s AQI shot past 2000, triggering a state of emergency as the provincial government applied drastic measures like citywide smog lockdowns to scale back pollutants degrees. In reaction, Punjab has ordered parks and museums to remain closed till November 17.
Smog Lockdowns in Pakistan 2024
The Swiss Air reveals IQ Air reviews that close-by districts including Bahawalpur, Muzaffargarh, and Khanewal also are experiencing excessive smog, which has decreased avenue visibility to almost zero. Situations have deteriorated so critically that Nishtar Medical Institution, Multan’s biggest medical facility, has set up committed smog counters in its outpatient and emergency departments to help patients impacted by the poisonous air.
To fight the disaster, Multan’s Deputy Commissioner Waseem Hamid Sindhu imposed a “clever lockdown” on Friday, mandating that everyone markets nearby at eight PM and directing traffic police to crack down on polluting cars.
in the meantime, Lahore’s AQI passed 1000 in the hours of darkness, making it every other of the world’s most polluted towns. Lockdowns have also been declared in other high-AQI towns like Nankana Sahib, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Chiniot, and Jhang.
Public and private colleges across 18 districts in Punjab have already been closed. The Environmental Protection, Climate Trade, and Catastrophe Management (EPCCD) Secretary mentioned that even as industrial emissions, car pollution, and crop burning have been using the smog, the latest wind conditions have severely exacerbated the state of affairs.
How polluted is Lahore’s air?
Lahore suffers from high levels of air pollution, with the city regularly ranking at the top of IQAir AirVisual’s live pollution rankings of major global cities. However, pollution only rose to the top of the public’s consciousness in early 2017, when actionable air quality data was published for the first time in Pakistan. In the absence of publicly available government data, a network of citizen-operated sensors began to monitor fine particulate matter, also known as PM2.5, and report data in real time. The data laid bare Lahore’s high levels of air pollution, shocking the public and becoming a media talking point.
The resulting publicity led to a public interest petition to review the government’s response to the smog crisis, which was heard at Lahore’s High Court in November 2017. The court ordered authorities to prepare an updated smog response action plan and publish daily pollution updates until able to publish hourly updates, as the non-government monitors do.
Following the court order, the Punjab Environment Protection Council approved a Smog Action Plan and adopted an Air Quality Index (AQI) classification system in 2017. However, the AQI has been criticized by air quality advocates as being too lax and underreporting the severity of the pollution. While the U.S. AQI deems a PM2.5 concentration of 60 micrograms per cubic meter in the air as “Unhealthy”, Punjab’s AQI reads as “Satisfactory”, with the advice: “May cause minor breathing discomfort to sensitive people.”
Because of this discrepancy, in November 2019, three children asked a court to declare the Punjab AQI “illegal and unreasonable.”
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