Provincial authorities’ desperate efforts to contain smog in Punjab cities failed to succeed as Lahore remains on the top of the list of the world’s big cities with 766 Air Quality Index reading. Bad air continuing to haunt Lahore and several other cities of Punjab despite authorities’ taking various steps to curb polluted air. Lodharan with 758 points remained second in Pakistan on the AQI list, Rojhan ranked 3rd with 495 points, Faisalabad 4th with 492 points, Sialkot 5th (487) and Multan 6th with 386 AQI reading in the country with dangerous level of hazardous pollutants in the air.

Karachi ranked 6th in the list of the world’s big cities with 188 points on the Air Quality Index. Peshawar’s AQI reading dropped below 100 after several days with 96 points on the index after rainfall in the capital city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Several sections of the motorway have been closed for vehicular traffic after poor visibility owing to fog and smog. Motorway M-2 from Lahore to Islamabad, Lahore-Sialkot motorway, Lahore to Darkhana (M-3), Pindi Bhattian to Multan (M-4) and Multan to Sukkur (M-5) motorway have been closed for traffic.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan