AQI below 200, but ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’

LAHORE : After almost a month, the residents of the provincial capital enjoyed a sunny winter day as the average Air Quality Index (AQI) of the provincial metropolis came down below 200 here on Saturday.

Data collected from IQAir revealed that the AQI reached 304 on MM Alam Road, only place in the city with AQI higher than 200 while at most of the city localities it was below 200. The environmental experts said the average AQI of the city was 143, which came in the category of ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’. They said PM2.5 concentration in Lahore was currently 10.5 times the WHO annual air quality guideline value.

The AQI of other important city areas included Sundar (168), Bedian Road (163), Polo Ground Cantt (156), University of Management and Technology (153) and WWF-Pakistan (152). Meanwhile, Met officials said a westerly wave was affecting western and upper parts of the country. They predicted that rain-wind/thunderstorm (snowfall over hills) was expected in north Balochistan, upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir and Potohar region. Cold and dry weather was likely to prevail over other parts of the country. Smog/fog (in patches) was likely in isolated plain areas of Punjab and upper Sindh during morning. Rainfall was recorded at several cities across the country. Saturday’s lowest minimum temperature was recorded at Leh where mercury dropped down to -07°C while in Lahore it was 11°C and maximum was 25°C.