Lahore remained the world's most polluted major city on Monday, November 9, according to the global air quality monitoring platform IQAir. The city's Air Quality Index (AQI), a scale on which higher numbers mean more polluted air, reached 590. A separate hourly reading on the platform's historical graph reached 647, which falls in the hazardous category.
Readings across Lahore and Punjab
IQAir's live ranking for 9am to 10am on November 9 placed Lahore first, ahead of Mongolia's Ulaanbaatar at 177, India's Delhi at 174, Kolkata at 173 and Bosnia and Herzegovina's Sarajevo at 170. Lahore's reading was more than three times that of the second-ranked city. Station readings inside the city were higher still, with Allama Iqbal Town at 1,033, the CERP Office at 864 and Burki Road Paragon at 748.
Other Punjab cities were also in the hazardous range on the same platform. Raiwind recorded 688, Multan 655 and Faisalabad 600. A separate Pakistan city ranking listed Lahore at 639, which shows that readings change with the station, the time and the view being checked. Hourly graphs show pollution rising sharply in the early morning and late at night, creating dense smog. Global health statistics put air pollution, indoor and outdoor, as the second-leading risk factor for deaths worldwide, with an estimated 8.1 million deaths a year.
Causes and official response
The Punjab government had warned on November 8 that smoke from Diwali fireworks in neighbouring Indian Punjab, crop-residue burning and easterly winds could worsen air quality in Lahore and nearby districts. Its special report said fireworks smoke could reach Lahore within five to 13 hours. It named Amritsar, about 50 kilometres from Lahore, as a possible source of cross-border pollution, but said a measurement-based assessment would be needed to establish how much came from across the border.
Satellite observations also showed significant agricultural fire activity inside Pakistani Punjab, which points to local emissions as well. The Punjab Environment Protection Agency, the provincial environment regulator, said it had stepped up its crackdown on stubble burning. It is using drones, specialised night squads and firefighting teams across farmland.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- November 8: The Punjab government issued a special report predicting that fireworks smoke and other factors could raise pollution in Lahore on the morning of November 9.
- November 9 (Monday): IQAir's 9am to 10am ranking placed Lahore first with an AQI of 590, while a historical hourly reading of 647 was also recorded.
- November 9 and 10: The provincial government said pollution levels were expected to remain elevated.
- November 11: Some improvement in the air was anticipated from this date.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Lahore duniya ke bade shehron mein sab se zyada aloodah shehar ban gaya hai, aur IQAir ke mutabiq AQI 590 tha. Diwali ke pataakhon ka dhuan, faslon ka kachra jalana aur hawa ki simt ki wajah se fiza zehreeli ho gayi hai. Hukumat ne 9 aur 10 November ko pollution zyada rehne ka kaha hai, aur 11 November se behtari ki umeed hai. Is dauran bahar nikalte waqt ehtiyaat karein.
