LAHORE: Air pollution in Pakistan’s second biggest city Lahore soared on Saturday (Nov 2), with an official calling it a record high for the smog-choked mega city.
For days, the city of 14 million people has been enveloped by smog, a mix of fog and pollutants caused by low-grade diesel fumes, smoke from seasonal agricultural burning and winter cooling.
The air quality index, which measures a range of pollutants, spiked at 1,067 – well above the level of 300 considered “dangerous” – according to data from IQAir.
“We have never reached a level of 1,000,” Jahangir Anwar, a senior environmental protection official in Lahore told AFP.
“The air quality index will remain high for the next three to four days,” Anwar said.
The level of deadly PM2.5 pollutants – fine particulate matter in the air that causes the most damage to health – peaked at 610, more than 40 times the limit of 15 in a 24-hour period considered healthy by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“As a mother, I am full of anxiety,” 42-year-old Lilly Mirza told AFP from the choked city.
“Last year was not this bad, it was much better. Somebody needs to tell us what has happened. Did a pollution bomb explode somewhere?”
Mirza said she felt “completely terrorised” after taking her son to a sports match in one of the pollution hot spots.
“I came back home so stressed.”
