First-ever Smog Tower inaugurated in City

LAHORE:As the provincial capital stood on top of the list of the world’s most polluted cities on Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inaugurated the first-ever Smog Tower in the City.

The average AQI was 264, which came in the category of very unhealthy while the maximum crossed 400 at several places. The most polluted localities included Polo Ground Cantt (433), Bedian Road (404), US Consulate (378), DHA phase VIII (374), Askari 10 (354), Mini Market Gulberg (334), Burki Road (292) and Syed Maratib Ali Road (286) while the second and third most polluted cities were Delhi, India (227), and Hangzhou, China (211).

On the other hand, the EPA inaugurated the country’s first locally manufactured outdoor air purifier, the Smog Cleaning System named as Smog Tower. EPA officials said the system was developed by Rapidev, an Islamabad-based company. They said company claimed that the system used advanced ionization technology to purify up to 50,000 cubic meters of air per hour, reducing PM2.5 levels and improving air quality.

EPA installed the Smog Tower in the area of Mehmood Booti came in the jurisdiction of the Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA). EPA has installed three dedicated air quality monitoring stations around the tower to assess its pollution reduction efficiency. The tower became operational on December 22, 2024, said Dr Imran Hamid Sheikh, DG EPA who along with the EPA Technical Team and Brig Waheed, Executive Director RUDA, visited the site to assess the arrangements and operation of the tower. The pollution cleaning efficiency of the tower was under observation by the EPA for two weeks, he said and expressed gratitude to the Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) for providing the site for the experiment. He emphasised that the EPA stood in support of any efforts made by the private sector to improve the Air Quality. EPA spokesperson said the agency will monitor the efficiency of this tower for 15 days after which the number and places of further towers will be decided.

Partly cloudy

Partly cloudy and cold weather continued to prevail in the city here on Thursday while Met office predicted similar weather conditions for the next 24 hours. Met officials said that continental air was prevailing over most parts of the country while a westerly wave was likely to affect northeastern parts of the country from tonight.

They predicted that mainly cold and dry weather was expected in most parts of the country while very cold in hilly areas during night/morning. Light rain/light snow may occur in Kashmir, Gilgit Baltsitan, north-east Punjab, Upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Murree, Galiyat and adjoining hilly areas. Smog/moderate to dense fog (in patches) was likely to persist in most plain areas of Punjab, Khyber Pakhunkhwa and upper Sindh during morning/night hours. Thursday’s lowest minimum temperature was recorded at Skardu where mercury dropped down to -13°C while in Lahore it was 5.5°C and maximum was 22°C.