Lahore air pollution reading hits to above 1000 level

LAHORE: Punjab’s capital city passing through dangerously high air quality index (AQI) reading of 1067 on Saturday morning that later improved to 702.

Lahore has been on the top of the hazardous air quality list in the world as India’s Kolkata with 253 AQI reading, Delhi, 238, Mumbai 199 and Tashkent in Uzbekistan with 181 reading much behind.

Smog in Lahore causing serious health problems for residents toiling in polluted air and reported to have breathing difficulties, coughing and burning eyes.

AQI as high as 151-200 is considered unhealthy, while an AQI rating between 201 to 300 is more harmful and AQI over 300 has been extremely hazardous.

Lahore had the worst air quality of 1,067 at 9:30 in the morning Swiss air quality watchdog’s real-time list of most polluted cities in the world, despite provincial government’s desperate attempts to fight off smog.

Air pollution level goes upward in the city on the onset of winter, change in the wind speed, wind direction and sliding minimum temperature increases air pollution.

AFP reports: Air pollution in Pakistan’s second biggest city Lahore soared on Saturday more than 80 times over the level deemed acceptable by the World Health Organization (WHO), with an official calling it record high.

The level of deadly PM2.5 pollutants — fine particulate matter in the air that causes the most damage to health — peaked at 1,067, before dropping to around 300 in the morning, with anything above 10 considered unhealthy by the WHO.

“We have never reached a level of 1,000,” Jahangir Anwar, a senior environmental protection official in Lahore told AFP.

For days, Lahore has been enveloped by smog, a mix of fog and pollutants caused by low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal agricultural burning and winter cooling.

“The air quality index will remain high for the next three to four days,” Anwar said.

On Wednesday, the provincial environmental protection agency announced new restrictions in four “hot spots” in the city.

Tuk-tuks equipped with polluting two-stroke engines are banned, as are restaurants that barbecue without filters.

Government offices and private companies will have half their staff work from home from Monday.

Construction work has been halted and street and food vendors, who often cook over open fires, must close at 8 pm.

Smog is particularly pronounced in winter, when cold, denser air traps emissions from poor-quality fuels used to power the city’s vehicles and factories at ground level.