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LAHORE: The air quality in Lahore returned to the “hazardous” category on Tuesday after briefly improving.
By 9:30 am, the city ranked as the second-most polluted in the world, according to live rankings by a Swiss monitoring group, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 395.
According to IQAir, an AQI above 300 is considered “hazardous” for public health. The concentration of PM2.5 pollutants — fine particulate matter that poses the greatest health risk — was recorded at 54.5 times higher than the World Health Organization’s (WHO) annual guideline value.
In light of a recent decline in smog, the provincial government has relaxed operating hours for hotels and restaurants.
A notification from the Environmental Protection Department now permits these establishments to remain open until 10 pm, instead of the earlier 8 pm closing time.
The notification also states that dine-in, parking lot dining, and takeaway services can continue until 10 pm, while home delivery services will remain unrestricted.
