LAHORE: Air pollution in Lahore and surrounding towns reached the worst levels so far this year on Sunday, with the Punjab capital being declared the world’s most polluted city after its Air Quality Index (AQI) shot past 360.
The AQI data was released on Sunday and put Lahore atop the list of the most polluted cities in the world while Karachi came in seventh.
Anything above 400 on the AQI poses a risk for people with respiratory illness and can also affect even those with healthy lungs.
On the other hand, the PM2.5 concentration in Lahore is currently 62.9 times above the World Health Organisation (WHO) annual air quality guideline value.
Residents choking in acrid smog pleaded with officials to take action.
Air pollution has worsened in Pakistan in recent years, as a mixture of low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal crop burn off, and colder winter temperatures coalesce into stagnant clouds of smog.
Lahore, a bustling megacity of more than 11 million people near the border with India, consistently ranks among the worst cities in the world for air pollution.
In recent years residents have built their own air purifiers and taken out lawsuits against government officials in desperate bids to clean the air — but authorities have been slow to act.
What causes air pollution in Lahore?
Air pollution in Lahore is caused by a combination of vehicle and industrial emissions, smoke from brick kilns, the burning of crop residue and general waste, and dust from construction sites. Other factors of air pollution include large scale losses of trees to build new roads and buildings.
Winter air pollution is worse due to temperature inversion, which results in a layer of warm air that is prevented from rising trapping air pollutants.
