Lahore tops global air quality index at 420, Karachi third

Lahore recorded an air quality index of 420 on the morning of 1 November, placing it first among major cities in IQAir's global ranking, Express News reported. Karachi was third on the same list at 170.

The ranking put Tashkent second at 196, Dhaka fourth at 166 and New Delhi fifth at 156, according to Express News.

Inside Lahore, readings at nine locations reached 500. Express News listed them as Barki Road, Shahdara, Kahna Nu, Multan Road, Punjab University, GT Road, Gulberg III, Wahga Border and Egerton Road.

The Punjab government's air quality index recorded 478 for Lahore at 7am. Gujranwala topped the provincial list at 500, with Lahore second and Sheikhupura third at 336. Nankana Sahib recorded 326, Dera Ghazi Khan 317, Hafizabad 312, Jhang 297 and Khushab 273.

The two Lahore figures, 420 and 478, come from separate monitoring systems: IQAir's worldwide city ranking and the provincial government's district network.

UrduPoint reported that the particulate matter count reached 173 and that air quality across central Punjab was declared extremely harmful to health.

Lahore's reading at the same hour a day earlier was 357, according to the provincial data carried by Express News. Over the previous seven days the city's highest reading was 478 and its lowest 100, recorded at 2pm on 30 October.

Conditions at 7am on 1 November were a temperature of 19 degrees Celsius, humidity of 84 percent, wind from the south at 0.3 metres per second and solar radiation of 13 watts per square metre, Express News reported.

The provincial readings placed Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, Dera Ghazi Khan, Hafizabad, Jhang and Khushab alongside Lahore among the districts with the worst air that morning, with values between 273 and 500.