World’s most polluted city has an AQI of 394. It’s not Delhi
KARACHI, Nov. 3 (Reuters) – Unprecedented levels of air pollution in Pakistan’s second-largest city of Lahore prompted authorities to take emergency measures on Sunday, including mandating workers to work from home and closing primary schools.
According to data released by the provincial government and the Swiss company IQAir, the city recorded its highest ever pollution reading of 1900 near the Pakistan-India border on Saturday, propelling it to the top of a real-time list of the world’s most polluted cities on Sunday.
During a press conference, Senior Minister of Punjab Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the government has closed primary schools for a week and advised parents to make sure their children wore masks. This was happening as a thick layer of smog covered the city.
She stated that hospitals had received smog counters and that citizens had been urged to stay inside, keep doors and windows shut, and avoid traveling for reasons that were not necessary.
Aurangzeb stated that fifty percent of office workers would work from home to reduce vehicle pollution.
To reduce pollution, the government has also stopped construction in some areas and outlawed three-wheeled vehicles known as rickshaws. She said that factories and construction sites that don’t follow these rules could be closed.
Aurangzeb attributed the deterioration in air quality to winds carrying pollution from India, calling the situation “unexpected.”
She added, “This cannot be solved without talks with India,” and that the provincial government would start talks with Pakistan’s larger neighbor through the foreign ministry.
Similar to the situation in India’s capital, Delhi, the smog crisis in Lahore tends to get worse during the cooler months because pollution is trapped closer to the ground by temperature inversion.
