Lahore tops world’s most polluted cities

LAHORE: A dangerous spike was witnessed in the AQI of the City here Tuesday, which went to 247, very unhealthy categoryas PM2.5 concentration was 39.4 times the World Health Organisation annual PM2.5 guideline value.

Data collected from IQAir claimed that with this spike, the provincial metropolis went on top of the world’s top 10 most polluted cities while Delhiwas second in the list.

The most polluted city localities included different phases of DHA, Ravi Road, Syed Maratab Ali Road, different parts of Multan Road, Burki Road, Gurumangat Road, Johar Town, parts of Ferozepur Road and adjoining areas. Environmentalists believed that the increase in the smog was due to the increase of PM2.5 which showed that the anti-smog SOPs were not followed. They said all areas with high AQI were those where some development work was going on.

Met officials said the coldness in the air increased while the city witnessed partly cloudy weather. They said in recent days, a decrease in the smog was recorded but on Tuesday the city becameat top position in top 10 world most polluted cities.

They said a significant decrease in temperature was also seen in Lahore as the minimum temperature reached 11 degrees Celsius due to which the citizens were facing a lot of cold. Citizens have been advised to avoid unnecessary outings, especially children and the elderly.

Met officials said most parts of the country were likely to remain under the influence of continental air, resulting dry conditions. They predicted that weather was likely to remain dry over most parts of the country. Cold weather conditions were likely to persist over hilly areas while very cold during morning and night hours. Smog and shallow fog patches (particularly during morning/night hours) may form in some plain areas of Punjab.

Meanwhile, EPD claimed that a 70 per cent decline in stubble-burning incidents across the province was recorded following the establishment of 67 Quick Response Centres (QRCs) along major motorways and in key agricultural districts.

EPD official stated that as part of the strategy, nine Surveillance Squads were deployed across eight designated beats, covering critical stretches of the M-2, M-3, M-4 and M-11 motorways and adjoining agricultural zones.