Pakistan: Lahore Blinded By Smog, Multan Faces Record AQI Of 1,914; Visuals Surface

Lahore: As smog blindfolded Lahore and Multan in Pakistan, their Air Quality Index as per Swiss live air quality monitor rose to 760 and 1,914, The News reported.

Multan became the world's most polluted city in the country, baffling authorities as they tried to curb pollution, as per The News.

The News reported that the authorities were inert and failed to implement the directives on smog. Citizens failed to wear mask.

Situation In Lahore

In Lahore, thick smog led to wide-scale road closures for the second day as several points at motorways were blocked for traffic. At least 9 people were injured in a road accident near Kalashah Kako on GT Road, Mureed K when a van rammed into a truck parked by the road due to low visibility, as per The News.

Our future is just as dark and dismal as our present, if this goes on.

The problem is not the recurrence of smog each year in Lahore and surrounding cities, the problem is political inaction at curbing this disaster.

Credit: @artbywasif pic.twitter.com/d1JdytNQIj

— Faryal Rashid (@faryal_ra) November 9, 2024

Horrible situation in Lahore.
andچور Govt is not doing anything at all!!#smog #LahoreAir #LahoreSmog pic.twitter.com/hlmNKnEpkx

— Islamabad Lens 🕊️ (@DawnofCapital) November 10, 2024

The Lahore High Court directed that all markets and trade activities would remain closed on Sundays and would wind up by 8 pm on other days, as per The News.

The smog situation continues to worsen in Pakistan's Punjab. On Friday morning, the city of Multan turned apocalyptic as the city crossed the 2000 mark on the Air Quality Index reading, as per Dawn.

The state government of Pakistan's Punjab is on high alert and is implementing various measures to bring down the pollution levels.

The state closed parks and museums till November 17 as air quality worsened to record levels in all major cities of Punjab.

Air Quality In Multan

According to Dawn, Multan, the largest city in south Punjab province of Pakistan, recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 2,135 between 8 am and 9 am, according to IQAir, a Swiss air quality monitor.

The concentration of PM2.5 -- fine particulate matter in the air that causes the most damage to health -- was 947 micrograms per cubic metre, which is 189.4 times above the WHO guideline, as per IQAir.

The global health body considers anything over five micrograms per cubic metre as hazardous.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)