LAHORE: The city’s residents endured another hazardous day on Thursday as Lahore’s air quality plunged to alarming levels, underscoring the worsening smog crisis gripping Punjab.

The city was marked as most polluted on a global level in terms of its air quality all day, according to the data from IQAir, an air quality monitoring platform.

At 11am, the Air Quality Index (AQI) peaked at a staggering 497, a level considered “hazardous” by global standards. Although conditions briefly improved after noon, shifting to “very unhealthy” until evening, pollution levels spiked again after 7pm and recorded 278, leaving most neighbourhoods blanketed in toxic air.

Areas including CERP office, Johar Town, Iqbal Town, DHA, Bedian, Barki Road, Askari, and the Civil Secretariat were among the worst affected, with AQI readings consistently in the hazardous range.

The Punjab Environment Protection and Climate Change Department in its anti-smog operations, stated that enforcement actions carried out in November resulted in the closure and demolition of hundreds of polluting units across the province.

According to data released by the department, 2,575 polluting units were demolished during the month as part of the smog mitigation drive. Officials also sealed 2,500 premises found violating environmental regulations. Meanwhile, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) reported that continental air is prevailing across most parts of the country and smog is likely to persist in several cities, including Lahore.

According to the PMD air quality and weather bulletin issued for Dec 11, smog along with patches of fog during night hours may continue to affect Sialkot, Narowal, Lahore, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Jhelum, Sahiwal, Multan, Khanewal, Kot Addu, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Rajanpur and adjoining areas.

The department stated that meteorological conditions indicate the air quality will remain unhealthy in the coming days.

Lahore recorded a maximum temperature of 25°C with 85 per cent relative humidity. Winds remained northwesterly at 5 to 10 km/h, while weather conditions stayed cold and dry. The AQI status for the city was categorised as unhealthy, falling between 201 and 300 on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) smog policy scale.

It forecast similar conditions are expected to continue on Dec 12 (today), with the maximum temperature at 24°C, humidity at 85pc, and winds from the northwest at 5 to 10 km/h. The AQI is again projected to remain in the unhealthy range.

Three days ago, Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI) reported that Lahore recorded no clean air day in 2024 under the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards while 218 days of the same year also failed to meet Punjab’s Environmental Quality Standards (PEQS).

It revealed that annual PM2.5 levels would remain 21 times above the WHO guidelines, with an average concentration of 104.6 µg/m³ resulted in a loss of seven years of life expectancy for the average citizen.

According to PAQI, Lahore’s air pollution is driven by emissions from transportation, industry and brick kilns, which collectively contribute more than three-quarters of the city’s PM2.5 load.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2025