Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: LAHORE in Pakistan continues to remain the world’s most polluted city as smog blanketed the region on October 27 and the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 329 at around 9 am (local time) as per Swiss air quality monitor IQAir.
The AQI of Lahore stood at 424 earlier in the morning, leading Pakistani daily The News International reported. Pakistan’s Karachi also featured in the top 10 most polluted cities globally. It stood at the third spot in the list with an AQI recorded at 174.
Faisalabad and Multan cities of Punjab recorded AQI of 439 and 438 respectively at different times of the day. Other major urban centres like Bahawalpur, Gujranwala and Sialkot featured predominantly on the list, indicating a public health crisis in Punjab. The pollution, however, was not uniform across cities. It was reported that several monitoring stations recorded air quality levels in the ‘hazardous’ category, with some areas facing emergency conditions.
Lahore, Karachi figure in top ten cities
The smog emergency has placed the Punjab province region on high alert. Smog is set to intensify across Lahore and other parts of Punjab due to a combination of local emissions and pollutants carried by low-speed winds from India, following Diwali celebrations, according to the provincial government. Besides local pollutants, winds blowing from India are also likely to play a role in worsening the situation over the week.
Health experts have warned that prolonged exposure to such high pollution levels can result in people facing severe health issues, including heart disease, lung cancer, stroke and chronic respiratory illnesses, The News International reported.