Lahore smog pushes AQI to 358 as outlets differ on world ranking

Lahore's air quality index reached 358 as smog persisted over the city, Daily Pakistan reported, ranking it the most polluted city in the world. The Express Tribune, covering the same conditions, ranked Lahore third globally.

The two outlets disagree on Lahore's position in international pollution rankings, and neither published a full report that was available to this newspaper. What both establish is that the city is under hazardous smog and that its air quality index is far above levels considered safe. The Express Tribune's headline carried no AQI figure; the 358 reading is Daily Pakistan's.

On the scale used by international monitoring indices, a reading of 358 falls in the hazardous band, at which healthy adults and children are advised to avoid outdoor exertion. Neither outlet said which monitoring station supplied the figure or which ranking table it was measured against.

Smog episodes in Lahore are driven by a mix of vehicle and industrial emissions, brick kilns and the burning of crop residue in the surrounding agricultural belt, with still, cool air trapping pollutants near the ground. The city's position on global pollution charts has become a recurring feature of the autumn and winter months.

Neither report carried any statement from the Punjab government, the provincial Environment Protection Department or the Provincial Disaster Management Authority. Neither mentioned school closures, hospital admissions for respiratory illness, or any health advisory issued to residents.

Both reports were published on 28 October. This newspaper could not independently verify either ranking.

Lahore is Pakistan's second-largest city and the provincial capital, and its air quality is read as an indicator of the wider pollution problem across the Punjab plains, where the same sources of emissions affect smaller cities and towns downwind. Officials have in past years announced short-term measures during severe smog spells, including restrictions on some vehicles and on certain outdoor construction work, but no such measure was reported in either account on this occasion.