Air pollution engulfs Punjab, Lahore 2nd most polluted city

LAHORE: Most of the areas of Punjab on Sunday engulfed by air pollution as Lahore’s air quality also reported unhealthy.

Lahore has been ranked the second most polluted city of the world with 287 level of particulate matter in the air a prominent environment website said.

In Pakistan Kahna has been declared the most polluted area with the level of particulate matter recorded 568.

Faisalabad’s air pollution reading measured at 338, Gujrat 300 and Gujranwala recorded 296 particulate matter.

The worsening of the air quality was driven by high moisture and a shift in wind direction, conditions that hinder dispersion of pollutants and foster smog formation, according to the Commission for Air Quality Management.

Last year air pollution and smog haunted Punjab with the onset of winter. Authorities made desperate efforts to contain smog in cities. The province grappled with severe air pollution, which soared to alarming levels, posing serious public health issues.

For days, Lahore was enveloped by smog, a mix of fog and pollutants, caused by low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal agricultural burning as temperatures drop with cooling air.

Air pollution level in Lahore once soared to more than 80 times of the level deemed hygienic by the World Health Organization (WHO).