A TikTok video circulating online claims to show Punjab’s Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb announcing a complete weekend lockdown due to rising smog levels in Lahore and Multan. However, this claim is false.
The video, which was posted on October 19, features a news broadcast where an Urdu-language text suggests that Marriyum Aurangzeb is announcing a lockdown on the weekends in these cities. It also claims that all construction activities would be banned, a message that was widely shared on social media.
At the time of writing, the post had garnered over 453,000 views, been shared more than 1,160 times, and received over 9,300 likes. However, the video is not recent, and no such decision has been made by the Punjab government as of October 24, 2025.
Fact check sources traced the video back to a press conference held by Minister Aurangzeb on November 15, 2024. At that time, she announced a three-day lockdown in Lahore and Multan due to intense smog levels.
Punjab Information Minister Azma Zahid Bokhari clarified in a phone conversation with local media: “There is absolutely no possibility of any lockdown, and no decision has been made about it as of now.”
