Lahore tops global pollution ranking as AQI passes 500 in Punjab cities

Lahore remained the most polluted city in the world on Thursday in global air quality rankings, according to The Express Tribune. New Delhi ranked second. Several cities across Punjab recorded an Air Quality Index of 500 or higher.

IQAir recorded Lahore's AQI at 344, 363 and 371 at different times. Punjab's monitoring data showed Lahore at 346 at 8am, down from 444 at the same time a day earlier, a fall of 98 points in 24 hours.

IQAir recorded an AQI of 519 in Raiwind, 515 in Bahawalpur, 507 in Multan and 411 in Gujranwala. Punjab's monitoring network recorded levels of up to 500 in Kasur, Jhang, Nankana Sahib, Okara, Pakpattan and Sahiwal.

Within Lahore, Kahna Nau recorded an AQI of 423. Multan Road and DHA Phase VI each recorded 414. Egerton Road recorded 390, Safari Park 380, Barki Road 364 and Shahdara 357.

A PAQI report covering 4 to 10 November found Lahore's average PM2.5 concentration was 207.1 micrograms per cubic metre. This was 32 per cent higher than the 156.4 recorded in the same period last year. The average AQI over the seven days was 257. PM2.5 exceeded the NEQS limit of 35 micrograms on all seven days. The most polluted day was 9 November, with PM2.5 at 253.7 and an AQI of 303.

The report said average PM2.5 was around 13.8 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 micrograms. Average PM10 was 435.4 micrograms, nearly three times Pakistan's permissible limit of 150. The first week of November was the fourth most polluted week in nine years of available data.

The report attributed part of the worsening to weather, with wind speeds 32 per cent lower than last year. It estimated meteorological conditions contributed 16 per cent of the increase. Citing NASA satellite data, it counted 4,933 fire incidents across Pakistan and India from 4 to 10 November, with 2,824 in Pakistan and 2,104 in India. It said PM2.5 in Lahore was 124 per cent higher on days when winds passed over such locations.