LAHORE (Daily Hayat) — Lahore is once again choking under polluted skies. The city’s overall Air Quality Index (AQI) recently touched 210, rated “very unhealthy”, placing Lahore among the most polluted cities in the world.
According to the Punjab Environment Protection Department’s live dashboard, Lahore’s AQI was recorded at 151 (“unhealthy for sensitive groups”) at 3:00 pm on Oct 1, with coarse dust (PM10) the dominant pollutant at 10 of the city’s 11 monitoring stations.
Experts note that Punjab’s smog season typically runs from late October into January. In cold, still conditions, a layer of warmer air sits above cooler air near the ground like a lid, trapping pollution close to the surface where it accumulates without wind or rain to disperse it.
Ahead of the season, the Punjab government has ordered action against the open burning of solid waste, already prohibited under the Punjab Environmental Protection (Smog Prevention and Control) Rules 2023. Authorities have also been directed to strictly enforce dust-control rules at construction sites.
Global air quality data shows Lahore ranked as the world’s eighth most polluted city in 2025, with average PM2.5 levels many times higher than the World Health Organization’s annual guideline. Health experts advise children, the elderly and asthma patients to take precautions.
Leave a Reply