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Lahore’s air quality saw slight improvement on Sunday as its Air Quality Index (AQI) dropped below the “hazardous” level after weeks of extreme pollution.
The city’s AQI stood at 295, categorized as “very unhealthy,” making it the second most polluted city globally, according to Swiss group IQAir. New Delhi, India, topped the list with a staggering AQI of 751.
Home to over 14 million people, Lahore remains at the epicenter of Punjab’s worsening smog crisis. Every winter, the province faces severe air pollution, exacerbated in recent years by cold air trapping dust, emissions from low-grade diesel, and smoke from illegal crop stubble burning.
Authorities in Punjab have partly attributed the escalating pollution to neighboring India, where New Delhi consistently ranks as the most polluted city worldwide.
The situation in Lahore is dire, with AQI levels frequently exceeding 300 — a threshold deemed “hazardous” by air quality experts. Despite Sunday’s slight improvement, the city has remained on IQAir’s list of the most polluted cities globally for weeks.
On Saturday, Punjab’s Senior Minister, Marriyum Aurangzeb, declared a health emergency in Lahore and Multan, describing the smog crisis as a national disaster. This prompted the provincial government to take extraordinary measures to combat the smog.
