Punjab’s capital Lahore was once again ranked the most polluted city in the world with hazardous air quality conditions prevailing on Wednesday. The severity of the situation was evident in the early hours when the Air Quality Index (AQI) reached 451, as reported by www.iqair.com, a global air quality monitoring platform. It is important to note that air is considered safe to breathe when the AQI is below 50. The AQI is calculated on the basis of five categories of pollution: ground-level ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. AQI as high as 151-200 is considered unhealthy, while an AQI rating between 201 to 300 is more harmful and over 300 is extremely toxic.

According to experts, an increase in air pollution used to be witnessed in the winter. A change in the wind speed, wind direction and sliding minimum temperature increases air pollution. The air becomes heavier in the winter as compared to summer, causing poisonous particles in the atmosphere to move downwards and making the atmosphere polluted. As a result, a layer of polluted particles, including large amounts of carbon and smoke, covers an area. The smoke produced by burning crop remnants, factories and burning coal, garbage, oil or tyres enters the atmosphere and the impact of this appears at the onset of winter and remains till the season’s end, experts added.

Smog measures Amid ‘calamitous’ levels of smog in Punjab province, the government has announced the closure of schools and officers three days a week. The schools and offices in Lahore and other smog-hit cities will remain closed for three days —Thursday, Friday and Saturday — due to the worsening smog situation, announced caretaker chief Mohsin Naqvi in a press conference here. “November 9 is an official holiday while Saturday and Sunday are weekends,” he said, adding that the government has only announced Friday as a public holiday. CM Naqvi said that the step will reduce the smog in affected cities.

CM Naqvi said that markets will remain closed on Saturday while restaurants and cinemas will remain shut from Friday to Sunday. “All parks will remain closed from Friday till Sunday,” he had announced. Smog emergency: Punjab makes key decision for schools, transport “People should wear masks in general, while children and the elderly should make sure that they wear it,” the CM added, noting that they were not shutting down factories and public transport.

 Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)