Lahore air hazardous as Wagha Border station hits AQI 500

Air quality across Lahore reached hazardous levels on Saturday, with the Wagha Border monitoring station recording an Air Quality Index score of 500 in the Punjab Environmental Protection Agency's 6pm update, while the Met Office forecast dry weather that offers little prospect of the smog clearing.

The same EPA data put Barki Road at 288, in the unhealthy band. Six other stations sat in the range classed as unhealthy for sensitive groups: Egerton Road 175, Shahdara 173, Multan Road 167, Kahna Nau 165, Safari Park 160 and DHA Phase 6 at 159. Punjab University, at 149, and GT Road, at 148, recorded moderate readings.

Particulate concentrations were also high. PM2.5 reached 108.3 micrograms per cubic metre at Shahdara, 105.5 at Egerton Road, 99.9 at Multan Road and 97 at Kahna Nau. Wagha Border recorded a PM10 concentration of 683.5 micrograms per cubic metre.

IQAir's live platform gave Lahore a US AQI of 275 on Saturday morning, easing to 172 by the evening, still in the unhealthy category. Station readings on that platform showed Allama Iqbal Town at 322, Cantonment at 312 and Burki Road near Paragon City at 298. At 10pm the city ranked fifth among the world's most polluted major cities on IQAir's list with a reading of 204. Kuwait City topped it at 287, followed by Kolkata at 264, Delhi at 219 and Kabul at 213.

The EPA's provincial city ranking was led by Vehari at 369, Multan at 354 and Sahiwal at 329. Gujranwala recorded 323, Sheikhupura 284, Kot Addu 271, Dera Ghazi Khan 270, Pakpattan 247, Nankana Sahib 238 and Wazirabad 233. Lahore did not appear among the top ten cities in that ranking, though its station readings showed unhealthy air in several parts of the capital.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department's daily forecast said most Punjab districts would stay dry, with smog likely at isolated places in Narowal, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Lahore, Faisalabad, Kot Addu, Multan, Bahawalpur and adjoining areas. It forecast a maximum of 31 degrees Celsius in Lahore. Sunday was expected to be similarly dry, with fog or smog at isolated places in the morning.

The PMD's weekly outlook for 7 to 13 November warned of smog at isolated places in north-eastern and southern Punjab over the weekend. Rain and thunderstorms were forecast in parts of the country including the Potohar region, Murree and Galiyat, but the outlook held out no widespread rainfall over Punjab.

The Punjab AQI dashboard advised residents to avoid prolonged or strenuous outdoor activity when pollution is high, to check air quality before going out, to wear masks and to keep children indoors. It asked older people and those with respiratory or cardiovascular conditions to take particular care, and said patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or heart disease should consult their doctors about mask use.