Lahore tops global pollution chart as govt tries to tackle smog crisis

#Lahore #tops #global #pollution #chart #govt #tackle #smog #crisis

As temperatures plummeted, Lahore ranked as the world’s most polluted major city on Monday morning, with air quality falling to “extremely unhealthy” levels, according to Swiss monitor Aqair.

Around 8:00 am, the city’s AQI⁺ was 297, while the PM2.5 concentration reached 222.5 micrograms per cubic meter, which is 44.5 times the World Health Organization’s annual guideline value.

These fine particles, which penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, pose serious health risks, especially to children, the elderly and people with respiratory diseases.

Lahore is followed by New Delhi (287), Mumbai (182) on the global pollution chart. Other cities in the top 10 included Kolkata (158), Tashkent (158), Jakarta (154), Dhaka (152) and Dubai (152), with three Indian cities in the top five.

On Sunday, the city’s average AQI was recorded at 160, which was classified as “unhealthy”.

PM 2.5 was the dominant pollutant, measured at 13.7 times the annual WHO guideline value, according to IQIR data. Environmentalists said the persistence of PM2.5 pollution indicated that civic agencies such as Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and Metropolitan Corporation Lahore (MCL) were failing to implement anti-SMOG standard operating procedures during ongoing development and construction projects.

He urged Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to immediately order a halt to large-scale infrastructure and construction activity in Punjab—especially in Lahore and other major cities—warning that without intervention, “the situation will worsen.”

Meanwhile, Punjab senior minister Maryam Aurangzeb said that on the chief minister’s direction, nine provincial departments had launched a “magnificent operation” to combat smog. He said the combined efforts of government departments and public cooperation had “brought the AQ of Lahore under control.”

Aurangzeb said environmental protection teams were on the ground, brick kilns were being monitored by drones, and live reports were being issued daily. He said that smog guns and air quality monitors have been deployed, and for the first time, a coordinated government strategy has controlled AQ levels in a predictable manner.

He added that an advanced meteorological data center is already identifying areas of high pollution, enabling targeted action at “smog hotspots”. Departments were directed to cover construction equipment, while traffic police were directed to ban heavy vehicles during daylight hours. Agencies including WASA, LDA, PHA, C&W, and the Department of Agriculture had launched spraying and enforcement operations, including a crackdown on stubble burning across Punjab.

This megacity remains a fact on the global pollution charts, often ranking among the world’s most polluted urban centers. Air quality in Lahore typically worsens during the winter season from October to February when farmers in the province-wide Punjab light crop residue, which creates smoke that contributes to smog. At the same time, climate changes mean that pollutants stay in the air for longer.

Air pollution in Lahore is due to vehicular and industrial emissions, smoke from brick kilns, burning of crop residues and general waste, and dust from construction sites. Other causes of air pollution include the large-scale loss of trees for the construction of new roads and buildings.

Air pollution is worse in winter because of the temperature inversion, which results in a layer of warm air that prevents rising air pollutants.

Last year, Iqeer recorded Lahore’s pollution at a dangerous AQI of 1,110 on November 14, when PM 2.5 levels hit 632 micrograms per cubic meter of air, prompting authorities to declare a province-wide health emergency. Schools were closed, universities moved classes online, and construction bans were imposed to ease the crisis.

However, last year, the smog season started earlier than usual and intensified more intensely. Experts warned that the concentration of PM2.5 particles has already exceeded the dangerous limit – marking some of the highest readings in five years.