Rain washes away smog in Lahore

LAHORE: The recent rain spell has cleared the City skies, which were engulfed by smog and other poisonous gases as after the spell the Air Quality Index (AQI) came in the category of good, very good and satisfactory.

Official data about Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed that the AQI at Township was 42, at Town Hall it was 104 (minimum) and 117 (maximum), at Hockey Stadium it was 161 and at Data Darbar it was 197. On the other hand, cloudy weather with scattered rain continued to prevail here Sunday while Met office predicted similar weather conditions for the next 24 hours.

Met officials said that a westerly weather system was still affecting upper areas and may persist in upper parts till Monday (today). They predicted that mainly cold and dry weather was expected in most areas. However, more rain with snow over the hills was expected in upper Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, northeast Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir while dense fog was likely to prevail in upper Sindh and plain areas of Punjab.

Rainfall was recorded at several cities, including Gujranwala, Murree, Narowal, Sialkot, Mangla, Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Jhelum, Chakwal, Islamabad, Sargodha, Rawalpindi, Joharabad, Gujrat, Attock, Kasur, Sahiwal, Noorpurthal, Faisalabad, Okara, Toba Tek Singh, Jhang, Multan, DG Khan, Bhakkar, Kot Addu, Malam Jabba, Cherat, Parachinar, Kakul, Dir, Saidu Sharif, Peshawar, Takht Bai, Bannu, Mardan, Pattan, Balakot, Kalam, Muzaffarabad, Garhi Dupatta, Kotli, Rawalakot, Kalat, Skardu and Astore while snowfall was recorded at Murree, Malam Jabba, Rawalakot, Kalat, Skardu, Parachinar, Astore and Kalam. Sunday’s minimum temperature was recorded at Leh and Kalat where mercury dropped to -09°C while in Lahore, it was 9.2°C and maximum was 12.7°C.