LAHORE: The air quality of Lahore remained ‘hazardous’ with an air quality ranking of 354 US AQI, according to the air quality index (AQI) of the IQAir, the Swiss air quality technology company, on Monday, making it the second most polluted city of the world.

The Russian city of Krasnoyarsk was the first in the list of cities with the most polluted air and it record 453 US AQI and Dhaka in Bangladesh was third with 351.

The AQI ranking between 301-500 (or above) is classified as ‘hazardous’ and it might “trigger a health warning of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected,” according to AirNow.

According to a daily report/reading updated by IQAir at 9pm, Lahore had the worst AQIs at various spots. These included 399 taken at Falcon Enclave (Cantt), 373 Model Town, 354 US Consulate in Lahore, 351 Sanofi Pakistan Ltd, 218 FC College, 350 1FCC Gulberg Syed Maratib Ali Road, 327 Khana-e-Saleem, 319 1 FC College, 314 LUMS, 276 at HAC Agri Ltd and 276 at Phase 8-DHA.

All the motorways leading to different areas of the country, including Lahore to Islamabad, Lahore to Faisalabad and Lahore to Sialkot, were closed for traffic due to heavy smog and low visibility, said a National Highway and Motorway Police spokesperson.

However, PIA spokesperson Athar Awan said they did not have any flight after 7pm till morning and no flight was cancelled or diverted on Monday.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2021